Focus on Arts and Ecology

A South China University scientist has used gene editing to create a breed of pig that saves grain, grows quickly and is a lot less polluting, reports Southern Weekend. Professor Wu Zhenfang has used the technology to import four genes into a pig that are found in microorganisms to significantly increase the efficiency of the pig’s digestive system.

China was responsible for one half of world’s pork production in 2017, slaughtering 688 million pigs. But the environmental costs of the industry are high: the total nitrogen and phosphorus emissions from pig manure account for about 20% and 40% respectively of the national total of these pollutants. 

Nitrogen and phosphorus are critical components of nutrition, but the lack of enzymes in pigs’ digestive tracts means that two-thirds of these elements are wasted, contributing to soil and groundwater pollution. Gene edited pigs would, in effect, increase the efficiency of pig feed because they would require 27% less feed while cutting nitrogen and phosphate discharge by 20% and 45% respectively.