Scientists at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University in Shaanxi altered a gene involved in fighting infection.
The team used a genome editing tool to change the genetic code of cattle and claim this could have widespread uses in agriculture.
The research was published in the journal, Genome Biology.
“Our study provides an avenue to develop the CRISPR/Cas9 system for agriculture applications,” the scientists said.
Blood samples
“We demonstrated that a single Cas9n can be used for gene insertion at a selected target site in the cattle genome and that this method is advantageous in terms of avoiding additional indel mutations.”
“The resulting transgenic cattle exhibited increased resistance to M. bovis infection,” the researchers said.
In an attempt to fight against tuberculosis, scientists in China have previously inserted a mouse gene into cattle.
However, the latest research involves the new and more precise genome editing tool.
Tests on resistance to TB were carried out on blood samples taken from the cloned animals.
It is not clear what would happen if the transgenic cattle were exposed to tuberculosis in normal conditions.
SHARING OPTIONS