Author
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Blomberg, Le Ann |
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TELUGU, BHANU - University Of Maryland |
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Donovan, David |
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OATELY, JON - Washington State University |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 5/19/2015 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Decades of selective breeding in agricultural species has led to the derivation of stronger and fitter animals with improved production traits. However, often co-segregating with beneficial traits are less desirable traits. With the plethora of genome data and annotation, has come the technology to develop a greater understanding of the function of genes and their role in regulating specific biological mechanisms such as development, growth, or disease susceptibility, by the direct silencing or repair of distinct alleles in the totipotent one cell embryo, without the introduction of foreign DNA. Traits introduced are heritable, thus, can be used to enhance genetics/ phenotype or re-introduce desired genetics. A university partner and ARS have utilized clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRIPSR) technology with a reporter gene to directly modify, in proof of concept experiments, a target gene (prion) in the one cell porcine embryo using both nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR). Embryos microinjected with the respective NHEJ or HDR construct and cultured through the blastocyst stage exhibited targeted mutations. Multiple gene target knockouts (prion and zinc finger, BED-type containing 6) and site-directed gene modifications have also been achieved. More recently, piglets with embryo-direct CRISPR gene modification have been generated. Goals will be to utilize these technologies to address disease and animal-welfare issues and create animal models for dual purpose, biomedicine and agriculture. |
