Scots shellfish to have their genes edited to boost health
SCOTTISH lobsters, lumpfish, salmon and oysters are to have their genes “edited” to make them healthier and fastergrowing under a £1.7 milllion initiative announced yesterday.
Researchers will also use cutting-edge genetic sequencing technologies to identify genes linked to “economically important traits” in the seafood species, such as disease resistance or growth rate.
The parallel moves are part of a £1.7m Government-funded initiative called
Aqualeap.
The initiative partners, including the Universities of Stirling, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and The National Lobster Hatchery, say lobsters, lumpfish, oysters and salmon are “four key species that have substantial economic and environmental importance for the UK”.
Professor Ross Houston of the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, which will lead the interdisciplinary consortium, said: “Wellmanaged programmes of domestication and breeding have a large and mostly untapped potential for improvement in aquaculture production.
“Gene editing involves altering some of the individual ‘letters’ that make up the sea creature’s genetic code. The technology can be used to introduce characteristics such as resistance to a specific disease or improved adaptation to different environments. “