June 9, 2004

 

 

Monsanto Sees Joint Effort Producing Super Pig

 

Monsanto Co. and MetaMorphix Inc. said Tuesday that they are teaming up to bring consumers a new brand of well-bred pork.

 

Monsanto, based in Creve Coeur, has paid an undisclosed amount of money for exclusive access to a map of the swine genome developed by MetaMorphix, which is based in Savage, Md. The companies say it's the most complete map developed.

 

The announcement was made during the annual convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which convened 18,000 scientists, policymakers, journalists and industry representatives and attracted hundreds of protesters Tuesday.

 

Monsanto Choice Genetics Inc., a subsidiary, will match particular genetic markers with traits that make pork more juicy and flavorful or that improve breeding characteristics. It will use the expertise Monsanto has brought to bear in its successful hybrid-seed business, said Michael Stern, director of technology, chemistry and animal agriculture.

 

The result, in about four years, will be a brand of premium pork that consumers can easily identify, just as most people have become familiar with Angus beef, he said. "If it can be done and there is value out there, this collaboration will allow us to find it," he said.

 

The improvements will be made through conventional breeding, not through genetic engineering, the companies said. Monsanto will use a process it calls "marker-assisted breeding technology" to screen the DNA of swine for desirable traits. Animals with good genes will be identified and cross-bred.

 

In two years, the company said, an improved boar should be ready for breeding. A couple of years and generations of offspring after that, their meat should be available on store shelves.

 

Monsanto had been working on a map of the swine genome, but it was at least three years away from reaching the level of information that MetaMorphix had to offer, Stern said. The partnership speeds up its time to market.

 

The swine gene-mapping project was started more than four years ago by Celera Genomics, the company that published the human genome in 2001. MetaMorphix acquired Celera's animal genomics and genotyping business in 2002 and continued the work. MetaMorphix also has mapped the cattle genome, which is being put to similar use in beef.

 

On Monday, it announced that it is collaborating with Cargill Inc. to develop improved lines of cattle. Meat companies, breeders and packers are the targeted customers of Monsanto and Cargill.

 

Monsanto expects the pork industry to welcome the opportunity to develop premium, branded meat that can demand a higher price in supermarkets. But it has just begun talks with them.

 

In limited conversations with a few meatpackers, "uniformly, the response is that they see this as a very important objective," Stern said.