Genetically engineered ‘super-horses’ to be born in 2019 and could soon compete in Olympics
Genetically engineered ‘super-horses’ to be born in 2019
and could soon compete in Olympics
The animals would be stronger, faster and able to jump
higher, scientists hope
By Sarah Knapton, science editor 26 DECEMBER 2017 •
4:00PM
Genetically engineered horses designed to be faster,
stronger and better jumpers will be born in 2019 after a breakthrough by the
same laboratory which clones polo ponies.
Scientists in Argentina successfully used a powerful DNA
editing technique called Crispr to rewrite the genomes of cloned horses.
Healthy embryos were produced following the procedure,
which the researchers plan to implant into a surrogate mother within two years.
The team focussed on boosting the myostatin gene sequence
which is crucial to muscle development, endurance and speed.
Theoretically, animals designed in such a way should be
able to run faster, for longer, and jump higher more easily.
Traditionally the same traits would be achieved by
breeding animals which already exhibited desirable features. But it can take
many generations to develop a beneficial trait.
Daniel Sammartino, founder of cloning specialists Kheiron
Biotech, which is based in Buenos Aires, said: “This technology brings
additional progress in horse breeding. It could be possible to achieve better
horses in less time,
“Our next big challenge is not only to export our
technology, but fundamentally develop these scientific advances in other
animals for multiple purposes.”
The first horse was cloned in 2003 by US cloning company
ViaGen and cloned polo ponies are now widespread. Last year, Adolfo Cambiaso
rode six horses cloned from the same mare, to help his team win the Argentinian
open.
Though cloning itself cannot improve a line, it does
offer some advantages to the original donor horse, as breeders can make sure the
environment and training is a perfect fit, meaning that it is likely the
‘daughter’ clone will be better than the original.
In 2013, The International Federation for Equestrian
Sports (FEI) lifted the ban on cloned horses competing internationally
following a review which found they were unlikely to have any advantage over
horses bred traditionally. But none have so far competed at the Olympic games.
The FEI said there were no rules yet in place to stop
genetically engineered horses competing.
FEI spokeswoman Shannon Gibbons said: “The performance of
a cloned horse is unlikely to match that of the original horse for a number of
reasons, including the maternal uterine environment, nutrition, training and
the understanding that clones are not exactly the same as the original horse.
“Additionally, as progeny of cloned horses will be
produced by conventional reproductive methods, such as natural covering or
artificial insemination, maintaining fair play is protected.
“The FEI will therefore not forbid participation of
clones or their progenies in FEI competitions. However, we will continue to
monitor further scientific research.”
British equestrian bodies also said there was nothing
preventing genetically edited animals from competing.
Emily Dunn, a spokeswoman for British Eventing said:
“There are not currently any rules around cloned or genetically engineered
animals in eventing.”
The genetic editing technique Crispr - which stands for
Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat - is a
naturally-occurring defence mechanism used by bacteria.
Bacteria carry in their DNA strands of genetic code
belonging to viruses so that they recognised them when they come near and send
out an enzyme which snips a way at the code, destroying the invader.
Scientists have harnessed this mechanism to use as a kind
of ‘molecular scissors’ which snips away a specific area of DNA code and
replaces it with a different version which gives new instructions to the body,
effectively reprogramming the animal.
Scientists plan to continue editing other genes to
improve other characteristics. Edits such as these could also be used to cure
defective sequences by eliminating genetic pathologies.
The results will be published early next year in the
journal Cloning and Stem Cells.
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