One of the best-known scientists in the GMO world, Alison Van Eenennaam, “aims to create a bull that will father only male offspring” through a bit of gene editing with CRISPR, said MIT Technology Review. “That would be valuable to beef ranchers, she thinks, because males grow bigger and faster.”
Ultimately, Van Eenennaam’s project would create a bull with an extra copy of a gene called SRY on its X chromosome, so any female offspring would carry the gene, which produces male characteristics, including bigger muscles and sex organs. The offspring are expected to be sterile. “Van Eenennaam’s long-term goal is to make beef production more efficient. Males yield more meat than females and don’t get pregnant or go into heat. She thinks the ersatz males should be about 15 percent more efficient at turning grass and grain into muscle than females.”
The USDA provided funding for the project as part of its interest in preventing genetically modified organisms from spreading into nature, said MIT Technology Review.
The publication said some scientists expected President Trump to announce this week that the administration would kill an Obama-era proposal to require federal review of the safety of gene-edited crops and livestock. “Instead, Trump offered a more general promise about ‘streamlining regulations that have blocked cutting-edge biotechnology, setting free our farmers to innovate, thrive, and to grow.’ ”