The National Pork Producers Council wants the Food and Drug Administration to give regulatory oversight to the USDA for gene edited animals raised for food. And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he will lobby President Donald Trump to make that happen. NPPC’s Lead Counsel for Science and Technology Andrew Bailey says while gene editing technology has great promise, right now it’s being curtailed by the FDA.
NPPC Director of Science and Technology Dr. Dan Kovich says the gene editing can help primarily in making animals resistance to disease.
He says one of the primary diseases gene editing could have a big impact on is PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome).
Bailey says the U.S. needs to get moving on allowing gene editing as other countries have taken steps ahead of us with it.
Kovich says they’re already working to see how gene editing would make other diseases resistant, including African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease.
