India's first gene-edited sheep developed in Kashmir agricultural varsity

Scientists and researchers at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) have developed India’s first gene-edited sheep using the CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

 

“Through gene editing, we have targeted a gene in a sheep variety that helps in boosting its muscle weight and would give heavier, almost 30 per cent more weight than normal sheep. We have got the offspring from the mother, and one with the mutated gene is distinctly heavier than the non-mutated,” Vice Chancellor of SKUAST Dr Nazir Ahmed Ganai told Business Standard.

 

He added that the DNA of the mutated lamb, which is now three months old, will be sent to foreign research labs for further verification. The gene-edited lamb has been modified for the ‘myostatin’ gene – a regulator of muscle growth.

 

“Muscle mass in the animal is enhanced by nearly 30 per cent by disrupting the gene, a trait naturally absent in Indian sheep breeds but known in select European breeds like the Texel.” 

 

The feat was achieved by a team of researchers led by Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST-Kashmir, Riaz Ahmad Shah, after a research of around four years

 

Shah’s team had previously cloned India’s first Pashmina goat- ‘Noori’- in 2012.

 

A few weeks ago, the Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan released the first gene-edited rice varieties in the world developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) scientists using the patented CRISPR-CAS9 technology. 

 

The edited sheep contains no foreign DNA, distinguishing it from transgenic organisms and paving the way for regulatory approval under India’s evolving biotech policy framework.

 

“The gene-edited sheep of the local ‘merino’ breed weighed almost the same as a normal lamb at birth, but within three months, it became at least 100 grams heavier than a non-edited lamb,” Ganai said.

 

He said that when it comes to wool count, a gene-edited sheep won’t be much different from a non-gene edited one, and both will give around 2-2.5 kg of wool. “But being heavier, the gene-edited sheep would give more meat than a non-edited one,” Ganai said.