American startups create a new generation of pet thanks to gene editing

Humans have selected dogs and cats for thousands of years to create more favorite pets. Now, Startup Los Angeles Project in Austin City, Texas, towards speeding up this process with gene techniques to create rabbits glowing in the darkness, dogs and cats are not allergic, even unicorn (one -horned horse).

Los Angeles Project was founded by biologist Josie Zayner and Cathy Tiy Biotechnology Entrepreneur. Zayner used to inject the CRISPR gene editing tool for himself at a conference in San Francisco and broadcast live in 2017. Currently, she wants to create the next generation of pets.

“I think, being human, upgrading animals is like a form of our moral privilege,” Zayner said. She said Los Angeles Project focuses on creating “more complex, more interesting, beautiful and unique animals” than existing animals.

Los Angeles Project has been working quietly in the past year. The 5 -person team of the company conducted experiments on embryos from frogs, fish, hamsters and rabbits. They use CRISPR gene editing technology to delete and insert new genes. In addition, more difficult to perform technically.

They are also experimenting with a lesser -famous technique: limited enzyme indirect integration, or rema, to put new DNA into the embryo. The implementation of these modifications at the embryo level will change the genetic structure of the animal.

Los Angeles Project used Crisplies to add a gene to rabbit embryos, causing them to release green fluorescent protein, or GFP. Zayner said they planned to transfer the edited embryo into the female rabbit this week. If everything goes smoothly, the company will have a flock of small rabbits for about a month. (Rabbit pregnancy is about 31 – 33 days.)

This rabbit is not the first glowing animal created. Scientists often use GFP to monitor and monitor gene activity or cell processes in organisms, often for diseases. Researchers have created mice, monkeys, dogs, cats, and rabbits, but none of them serves commercial purposes.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Project creates glowing rabbits and other animals to sell to customers. “I think the pet market is great and completely underestimated,” Zayner said.

Fish with GFP protein has been present in many pet shops in the US. Called Glofish, they are created by an old technique – recombinant DNA technology. The company develops this fish, Yorktown Technologies, selling brand for $ 50 million in 2017.

Los Angeles Project starts with GFP because it is relatively simple. It is also easy to observe in embryos when exposed to blue or ultraviolet light, showing that the gene editing has been successful. After glowing rabbits, the company aims to create a cat without Fel D1 protein – the main allergy that the cat secretes, or the horns of the deer, dragon and unicorn. However, they need more complicated edits to achieve this ambition.

“As we continue, the goal is to consider multiple genes at the same time, understand the genes that contribute to a complex feature, then transfer those changes from one species to another,” Tie said. For example, Egenesis Company created pigs with 69 gene editing to make their organs more compatible with human transplantation.

“I personally are very interested in the unicorn,” Tiep shared. It is a big requirement that requires understanding the genes behind the twisted horn of the unicorn, seeking to move them into a small animal, then tested on the horse to create a one -horned horse.

The idea of ​​creating a gene editing pet will definitely debate. In fact, biological ethics used to warn the “meaningless” applications of Crispli a decade ago, when this technology was still primitive. Los Angeles Project’s glowing rabbits will be the initial test of consumer reactions.

Some people wonder what will happen if there are errors. CRISPR can cause unwanted edits, leading to cancer or other animal health problems. In addition, no one really knows the limit of the number of editing can be done with the animal genome without harm.

“We don’t want to harm animals,” Tie said. Both she and Zayner respect the way of treating animals. The company has not killed any animal for experiments and is not planning to do so. They create embryos by combining eggs with sperm from the ovaries and testicles they receive from veterinarians and a local meat seller.

Glofish fish has provided a warning lesson. In Brazil, glowing fish escaped from the fish farm, multiplying in the streams in the Atlantic forest, making many people worry that they can threaten indigenous creatures. Zayner said the animals they created will be sterilized to not be able to reproduce and pass on the genetic changes to the child.

Los Angeles Project will certainly challenge the limit of gene editing regulations. This startup has contacted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its plan, but it is unclear how this agency will adjust. In 2003, the FDA determined that the sale of Glofish was not adjusted, based on evidence that this fish was not risky for public health and the environment.