March 28, 2006

Scientists create pig breed rich in fish nutrients

Scientists have successfully inserted a gene from an ocean worm into pigs, creating a new breed that can produce high levels of omega-3, a nutrient-rich oil found mainly in fish.

The results offer a potential new strategy for producing meat high in omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon and vegetable sources such as the seeds of hemp and flax.

They are a critical nutrient for human brain development, heart function and the immune system. However, it cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained from food.

Although animals fed with enriched feed can produce omega-3 enhanced eggs and milk, Dr Randall Prather, professor of reproductive biotechnology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and part of the research team, said this method resulted in much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

Yifan Dai of the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine, one of the scientists who took part in the research, explained that scientists took a gene from an ocean roundworm which converts omega-6 into omega-3 and transferred it into a pig cell. The pig was then cloned from this transient pig cell.

The scientists are looking forward to the future when the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) would allow such a product into the food chain.

Researchers say the development will also help them study how to provide a safer source of the compound. Fish that contain high amounts of omega-3 are contaminated with toxins such as cancer-causing mercury due to water pollution. Dwindling fish supplies may also lead to a higher demand for an alternative source of omega-3, the scientists said.