FDA Approves First Gene-Edited Hogs for Human Consumption

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made its first approval for gene-edited livestock for human consumption. Washington State University has led the charge but says regulatory oversight needs to change for the livestock or food industry to commercialize food products from a gene-edited animal.

The University submitted a group of five gene-edited hogs to FDA for approval, saying the pork was used to make German-style sausages. Using CRISPR technology, researchers used surrogate sires by knowing out a gene to make male swine sterile, but then implanting another male’s stem cells to create the next generation. The experiment was done solely to prove the animals were safe to eat. However, the approval was both timely and costly as the FDA process proved to be complicated.

In total, even with waived fees for the University, researchers spent two years and approximately $200,000 on the project to achieve the data FDA needed. While current FDA rules are burdensome in this category, countries like South America, Argentina and Brazil are “very progressive” regarding the human consumption of gene-altered livestock.

Read more on the FDA approval here.