Scientists given $10m to breed 'smart' cattle using gene editing

​AgResearch scientists have been given $10 million to develop "smart" cattle, although the gene editing technology they are using cannot be legally used by Kiwi farmers yet.

The money from the Endeavour Fund will be used to help breed cattle better adapted to warmer temperatures and to lower methane emissions.  

Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said it was important New Zealand maintained the capability to perform the research.

"It will generate useful knowledge which could position New Zealand to take advantage of future opportunities.  Research involving gene editing has been funded in New Zealand since the Royal Commission, as a routine part of excellent, frontier science.

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"As well as developing the technology, the research will evaluate the social acceptance of these new technologies, something that the Royal Society is working on at the moment."

Scientist Bjorn Oback said the goal of the research was to produce cattle which could adapt to higher temperatures, emit less methane yet still remain productive.

"We know dairy cows become heat stressed. It's clear some breeds are better adapted to rising temperatures than others, and so we've taken a gene that's known to dilute coat colour and we want to introduce that into black and white holstein friesians.

"We've already produced some cattle and they have a different coat colour – the black has been reduced to a greyish colour and then we'll see if it reduces heat gain in those animals."

Regarding methane mitigation, Oback said some cattle which produced 30 per cent fewer methane had been identified.

"We can then identify the underlying gene variants, once these are known you can take them in isolation. We'll also be looking at other eco-efficient variants such as improved feed conversion efficiency or reduced urinary nitrogen excretion."

​Oback predicted it would take about five years to produce a few sires with the desirable traits which would then be disseminated through the national herd.

However there was still the stumbling block of legislation.

"Under current legislation genome editing of life is still classified as genetic modification and still regulated under the HSNO Act. We've got the regulatory approvals to do this research in containment, but to put it out to farmers there's a need for a law change."

AgResearch had the only containment centre in the country.

​Oback said countries such as Brazil, which had more permissive rules on GM, would be interested because it imported mainly holstein friesian genetics which were unsuited to tropical environments.

"If you could put New Zealand grazing genetics with heat-tolerant traits into those markets it would be a real game changer."

Woods said the decision to invest in the research was made by the Science Board using independent assessment of science excellence and impact.

All research involving gene editing is conducted in accordance with the regulations of the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act and Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, as well as approvals from the Animal Ethics Committees and the Environmental Protection Authority.