In January this year Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) approved pigs produced by gene editing to be resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) viruses for use in food[1],[2]. Canada joined the US, Brazil and some other countries in determining that these pigs are as safe as conventional pigs used to produce food. Gene editing enables precise changes to be made to the DNA of an organism to change its phenotype. In this case to breed pigs resistant to PRRS, a devastating disease. PRRS is estimated to cost the Canadian industry $180 million3 and US industry $1.2 billion4 annually. Scientists Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the tool or “molecular scissors” that was used to generate the PRRS resistant pigs. Other gene edited livestock include cattle that are more heat tolerant. These cattle are approved for sale in the US, however, they are not yet approved in Canada.
Will we be eating pork from these pigs soon and if so will we know? Health Canada states that as they found no health and safety concerns, no special labelling is required for foods from the PRRSV-resistant pigs. We have featured articles about this topic previously in the newsletter (see for example genome editing opportunities in agriculture, and here, here, here, and here).
Former CEO Graham Plastow was invited to forecast the future of gene edited livestock at the Visions III conference on animal genetics and genomics at Iowa State University in 20215. His paper “who is going to eat ChickieNobs6?” after the engineered, brainless chicken parts in Margaret Attwood’s “Oryx and Crake”, looked at what would be required for successful introduction of these novel gene edited foods. “The opportunities for new technologies in animal genetics and breeding are not derived from the precision of the technology, the nutritional equivalence of the products, or whether such products can be distinguished from conventional products. They come from the benefits they bring to consumers and why scientists and businesses want to provide them. Shared value takes into account a broader set of societal needs and not just economics. Taking this approach can help companies to look at potential problems that will create barriers or “hidden” costs for taking technologies to market. Giving consumers the choice to determine how they benefit from these opportunities can help create markets rather than approaches that push technology first and create hurdles and objections.”
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[1] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2026/01/canada-approves-pigs-resistant-to-porcine-reproductive-and-respiratory-syndrome-viruses-for-use-in-food-and-feed.html
[2] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/genetically-modified-foods-other-novel-foods/approved-products/porcine-reproductive-respiratory-syndrome-virus-resistant-pigs/document.html
3 https://www.ahwcouncil.ca/pdfs/AHC_Gaps%20Analysis%20Report_February%2013_EN.pdf
4Osemeke, Onyekachukwu, et al. “Economic Impact of Productivity Losses Attributable to Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus in United States Pork Production, 2016 to 2020.” Preventive veterinary medicine (2025): 106627. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167587725002120
6 Margaret Attwood, “Oryx and Crake” p202, 2003 McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto.