Stem cell hopes of beefing up livestock

EVERY farmer could one day have a field full of prize-winning cattle, following a genetic breakthrough.

Scientists have discovered how to make ordinary male cattle, pigs and goats pass on ‘superior’ genes to their offspring.

It could mean thousands of animals being born which are larger, stronger and produce more milk, meat and wool.

The method uses gene-editing to create male livestock which are born sterile. They can then be given stem cells from another animal, such as a prizewinning bull, which make them produce that bull’s sperm. Ordinary farm animals can ‘father’ dozens of calves with the same DNA as a bull worth tens of thousands of pounds.

In tests on mice, the male rodents fathered 111 mice in no way related to them, with the DNA of a different mouse.

Experts say the technology, which took six years to develop, could be used to create more environmentally friendly cows, which produce less methane. But many people are reluctant to eat gene-edited animals, which have been dubbed ‘Frankenfood’.

Professor Bruce Whitelaw, from the University of Edinburgh and a member of the international team behind the geneedited animals, said: ‘This shows the world that this technology is real.

‘We now have to work out how best to use it productively to help feed our growing population.’

The scientists, who talk about creating ‘super dads’ in cattle, say they have no intention of trying to create human beings with superior genes.