Many farms across the U.S. have been affected by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. If you are a swine producer and have not faced this disease, chances are you know of a fellow producer that has had to manage it.

While there is no cure for this disease, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been looking to an unconventional way of ridding the herd of PRRS. Through a gene-editing technique called CRISPR, Dr. Raymond Rowland, head of pathobiology at the University of Illinois, has seen the benefits of this prevention method.

“I always start out by saying PRRS is not a pig disease; it is a population disease,” Rowland says.

Stave off disease

According to Iowa State University, signs of PRRS can include fever, lethargy, increase in premature farrowing and stillborn pigs, along with other signs. If the piglets can survive past parturition, Rowland says that it costs $6 per head to get them caught up to the other pigs.

Through Rowland’s research, he has found that the gene CD163 is responsible for making pigs susceptible to PRRS. By deleting the CD163 gene with CRISPR, these pigs are not affected by the disease. Rowland’s team found that if this gene is not present in the dam, then there will be resistance in the fetus.

The CD163 gene also plays a role in inflammation. So, by deleting the gene, the pigs are less susceptible to inflammation from any stress event that they may encounter.

“What we are really looking at is making a pig that can be better adapted to a production system,” Rowland said.

The next step for this research is to bring it to commercialization to allow producers to implement it into their operation. The Pig Improvement Company has already started the process of bringing the technology to the market.

“With new gene-editing technology that allows us to deliver genetic improvement in a new way, in a faster way, that allows that shared value and that producer benefit to grow even faster,” says Banks Baker, PIC global director of product sustainability. “It is something that we are really excited about. I personally believe that gene editing is going to be the future of all mammalian health.”

To learn more about the PIC’s PRRS-resistant pig, visit picprrsresistantpig.com/what-is-prp.