China Races the World to Create Virus-Resistant Super Pigs, Frankenfood
China, the Mad Dog from the North, Biblically Speaking They Are Very Dangerous… China Races the World to Create Virus-Resistant Super Pigs Deadly contagion raises stakes to engineer disease-free hogs China becomes biomedical behemoth within decades By Kristine Servando Inside a fortress-like megafarm on the outskirts of Beijing, dozens of pink-and-black pigs forage and snooze, unfazed by the chilly spring air. These experimentally bred hogs are fortified with a gene for regulating heat, buffering them against northern China’s hypothermia-inducing winters. The gene that researcher Jianguo Zhao inserted into the pigs’ DNA is among dozens of examples of genetic engineering underway in China—and in rival laboratories across the world—to create super pigs. For years, the quest was for better-tasting, stronger, and faster-growing swine. Now, in the wake of a devastating global outbreak of African swine fever, the more crucial need is […]
