July 22, 2005

South Korea supports developing BSE-resistant cattle
 

South Korea will fully support research efforts to develop a new breed of BSE-resistant cattle, its minister of agriculture and forestry Park Hong-soo revealed this week.

Park made the remarks after observing South Korean stem cell researcher, Hwang Woo-suk, conduct a fertilised egg transplant on a cow in an experiment to develop genetic strands that are immune to BSE infection.

It would be four to five years for the full development of the BSE-immune cattle, the researcher, from the National Seoul University, said. This research is done in conjunction with the country's National Livestock Research Institute.

The minister also said that South Korea wants Hwang's study to succeed and will fully support it. A breakthrough in this area could result in a boom for the domestic cattle industry, he added.

No case of BSE has been detected in South Korea thus far, although growing livestock trade may increase vulnerability via imports of diseased animals.

Last year, Hwang made international headlines by cloning the world's first human embryos. In May this year, Hwang's team produced embryonic stem cells that could be a potential breakthrough in the development of gene-based treatment for diseases.