Presenter: Alison Van Eenennaam
Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, a livestock geneticist and extension specialist from University of California at Davis, discussed her work in using CRISPR technology to make improvements in livestock genetics. She too referenced the long history of the use of breeding tools in animal species, which have led to improvements in pet traits, health research, medical procedures and food products, among others. “To me, genetic improvement is a better solution to animal diseases than having to treat animals who are sick with antibiotics. It’s better to have animals who are resilient and don’t get sick in the first place.” Gene editing does not replace traditional breeding, she pointed out, but is extremely useful in certain applications, such as pigs that are resistant to a deadly respiratory disease. “But we’re not going to be able to do it with the regulatory approach that is being proposed in the United States,” she said, which singles out this breeding method among others and treats gene-edited animals in the same way as new drugs.