Guidance Memo on gene editing and animal welfare
Researchers from the Food Values Research Group write Guidance Memo on gene editing and farm animal welfare.
In a Guidance Memo commissioned by the US-based organisation Tiny Beam Fund, Food Values Research Group convenor Prof Rachel Ankeny as well as FVRG researchers Dr Emily Buddle and Rebecca Paxton explored the use of gene editing to address farm animal welfare. The team discovered that the use of gene editing to improve animal welfare was unlikely in low- and middle-income countries over the short to medium term.
Perhaps most importantly, many of the animal welfare issues associated with livestock used for production in LMICs are unlikely to be best addressed through applications of gene editing.Prof Rachel Ankeny, Dr Emily Buddle and Ms Rebecca Paxton