Gene-edited pigs: can we engineer immunity? – Science Weekly podcast

Pigs have been rendered immune to a disease that has cost billions. Hannah Devlin questions whether this could be the future of eliminating debilitating and costly viruses in livestock

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Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is the most significant disease affecting pigs worldwide. In the United States, it costs around $644m (486m) every year, and for Europe, it's believed that figure is almost a1.5bn (1.3bn). There is no cure, and vaccines have proven ineffective. However, hope is on the horizon. Scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh have found that deleting a section of pigs' DNA has rendered them immune to the virus.