Table 2.
Potential applications of genome editing in animals mentioned in the literature.
| potential application of genome editing in animals | (potential) aim |
|---|---|
| genome editing in general | |
| create an animal model of Parkinson's disease [11] | create animal models of human disease |
| delete an antigen that causes hyperacute rejection in pig-to-human transplantation [51] or inactivating porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) to prevent transmission of these viruses to humans [73] | facilitate xenotransplantation from pigs to humans by reducing the chance of immune rejection |
| increase skeletal muscle mass and thereby meat production [48] | increase nutritional value for humans; increase production efficiency in animal farming |
| create a chicken strain with low allergenicity [126] | decrease allergic reactions in humans |
| increase disease resistance to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in livestock [98] | decrease suffering of farm animals; increase production efficiency; reduce use of antibiotics |
| create polled (hornless) cattle [79] | decrease suffering of farm animals (by preventing painful dehorning); decrease costs; increase production efficiency; decrease moral distress of farmers |
| produce poultry in which the embryo's sex can be recognized in the egg, in which genetic males become phenotypical females, or in which male embryos die during early development [100] | decrease suffering of farm animals by preventing the killing of male chicks |
| create the so-called diminished animals in which the ability to sense pain is impaired [78] | decreasing suffering of animals in research and farming |
| revive the woolly mammoth as a major grazing animal in the Arctic [81,91] | curiosity; advance scientific understanding; restore an arctic steppe in the place of the less ecologically rich tundra [139] |
| gene drives | |
| induce mosquito resistance to malaria parasites [29]; induce infertility in mosquitos [101] | reduce the burden of vector-borne diseases |
| reduce fertility or biasing sex towards males in invasive species, creating a population that is not reproductively viable [83] | control or eradicate invasive species |
| increase genetic gain in breeding programmes [10] | increase economic productivity in animal farming |
| change reproductive behaviour of wild animals that give birth to large numbers of offspring, many of which do not survive to adulthood, by decreasing the number of offspring they produce per cycle [114] | prevent wild animal suffering |