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GM pigs have received approval in the USA

Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science

The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), perhaps the most authoritative organization in its field, has issued a permit for the use of a genetically modified pig line for the needs of the food industry and medicine. In a press release distributed by the FDA, it is noted that this is the first case of approval of farm animals for two areas at once.

The GM line of GalSafe pigs was brought out by the biomedical company Revivicor. Unlike GM salmon, which was approved by the FDA a few years ago and grows much faster than usual, GM pigs are completely ordinary. With the only exception: their body does not produce galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose ("alpha-gal"). This disaccharide is widespread in nature and occurs in all mammals except humans and other anthropoids: our common ancestors lost the GGTA1 gene needed for this.

As a rule, the body quickly neutralizes alpha-gal molecules coming with food, but sometimes they can lead to the development of acute food allergies – "alpha-gal syndrome". GalSafe GM pigs are expected to be completely safe from this side, although formal tests have not been conducted on people with similar allergies. But the animals passed all the necessary safety tests, without which the developers would not have received permission from the FDA.

Revivicor expects that GalSafe GM animals will not only become a safer alternative to conventional store-bought pork, but will also find use in medicine. Specialists are working on technologies for their use to obtain drugs such as heparin, which is usually isolated from animal tissues: thanks to GalSafe, people with alpha-gal syndrome will also be able to use them.

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