Nicholas Schoenbrodt
Mrs. Mino
Honors Biology Period 8
October 14th, 2015
Summary: In the article Gene-Edited "Micropigs" to Be Sold as Pets, David Cyranoski talks about a new pet, the “Micropig”, created as a result of gene-editing. Gene-editing is a process where a scientist changes the genetic code of an animal without introducing the genes of a different animal. When creating the “Micropig”, scientists in Shenzhen, China used enzymes to disable certain genes in the fetus of a Bama pig, an already small breed of pig. To make the smaller pig, the scientists cloned a Bama pig fetus. Before the cloning however, they used the enzymes to disable a gene that acts as a growth hormone receptor. Without the gene, the pigs never received the signal that tells their cells to grow and they stayed …show more content…
To avoid health problems, the small pigs were bred with normal pigs. As a result, only half the pigs born naturally are small, but none have exhibited health problems commonly associated with gene editing. The pigs were originally meant to be used as models for human disease. This is because pigs are genetically much closer to humans both physiologically and genetically. The scientists’ original mission was to create a cheaper pig that could be used in the place of lab rats. When shown at a conference in Shenzhen, everybody attending wanted to hold the pigs. Because of this, the group made the decision to sell the micropigs. The pigs will start selling at $1,600. Unfortunately, this breakthrough also raises debates about the ethics of using genetics to modify animals. Some people argue that eventually, as with many pets, these pigs will be left to fend for themselves. Also, others worry that the distraction of selling the pigs as
Mrs. Mino
Honors Biology Period 8
October 14th, 2015
Summary: In the article Gene-Edited "Micropigs" to Be Sold as Pets, David Cyranoski talks about a new pet, the “Micropig”, created as a result of gene-editing. Gene-editing is a process where a scientist changes the genetic code of an animal without introducing the genes of a different animal. When creating the “Micropig”, scientists in Shenzhen, China used enzymes to disable certain genes in the fetus of a Bama pig, an already small breed of pig. To make the smaller pig, the scientists cloned a Bama pig fetus. Before the cloning however, they used the enzymes to disable a gene that acts as a growth hormone receptor. Without the gene, the pigs never received the signal that tells their cells to grow and they stayed …show more content…
To avoid health problems, the small pigs were bred with normal pigs. As a result, only half the pigs born naturally are small, but none have exhibited health problems commonly associated with gene editing. The pigs were originally meant to be used as models for human disease. This is because pigs are genetically much closer to humans both physiologically and genetically. The scientists’ original mission was to create a cheaper pig that could be used in the place of lab rats. When shown at a conference in Shenzhen, everybody attending wanted to hold the pigs. Because of this, the group made the decision to sell the micropigs. The pigs will start selling at $1,600. Unfortunately, this breakthrough also raises debates about the ethics of using genetics to modify animals. Some people argue that eventually, as with many pets, these pigs will be left to fend for themselves. Also, others worry that the distraction of selling the pigs as