India’s first gene-edited sheep developed by Kashmir university researchers. All you need to know

The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) has called it a “ground-breaking scientific achievement”.

The edited sheep contains no foreign DNA, distinguishing it from transgenic organisms and paving the way for regulatory approval under India’s evolving biotech policy framework, news agency PTI said.

The team of researchers led by Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST-Kashmir, Riaz Ahmad Shah achieved the feat after a research of around four years. Shah’s team had previously cloned India’s first Pashmina goat- ‘Noori’- in 2012, a milestone that garnered global acclaim.

“This path-breaking development places India on the global map of advanced genome editing technologies and positions SKUAST-Kashmir at the forefront of reproductive biotechnology research,” Shah told PTI, adding, it marks a historic milestone in the field of animal biotechnology.

The gene editing was performed using CRISPR-Cas9 technology and adhered to international biosafety protocols.

Shah said the gene-edited lamb has been modified for the ‘myostatin’ gene – a regulator of muscle growth. “By disrupting this gene, muscle mass in the animal is enhanced by nearly 30 per cent, a trait naturally absent in Indian sheep breeds but known in select European breeds like the Texel,” he said.

For now this has been done at research level. “The technique has multiple applications. We can edit the genes responsible for diseases to produce disease-resistant animals. It can also help in the twinning of animals at birth,” Shah told The Indian Express.

What is Gene Editing?

Gene editing, also known as genome editing, is a group of technologies that allow scientists to precisely change an organism’s DNA. These technologies enable the addition, removal, or alteration of genetic material at specific locations within the genome.

The development comes on the heels of the recent release of India’s first gene-edited rice variety, endorsed by Union Ministry for Agriculture, and further cements India’s growing prowess in genomic science, Shah said.

“The introduction of this mutation through gene editing, and not through traditional crossbreeding, represents a technological leap akin to the revolution Artificial Intelligence is driving in the 21st century,” he said.

SKUAST-Kashmir vice-chancellor Nazir Ahmad Ganai described the achievement as the birth of a new era in livestock genetics in the country.

Boosting its muscle weight

“This is not just the birth of a lamb, but the birth of a new era in livestock genetics in India. With gene editing, we have the ability to bring precise, beneficial changes without introducing foreign DNA, making the process efficient, safe, and potentially acceptable to both regulators and consumers,” he said.

Through gene editing, the researchers targeted a gene in a sheep variety that helps in boosting its muscle weight and gives heavier, almost 30 per cent more weight than normal sheep.

“We have got the offspring from the mother, and one with the mutated gene is distinctly heavier than the non-mutated,” the vice-chancellor  said adding that the  DNA of the mutated lamb, which is now three months old, will be sent to foreign research labs for further verification.