Biotech Updates

Transgenic Beef Cattle with High Beneficial Fatty Acid Developed

May 13, 2015

One of the beneficial fatty acids in human health is omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) due to its ability to provide protection against several diseases. The contents of n-3 PUFAs in livestock is very low, hence, researchers from Northwest A&F University and National Beef Cattle Improvement Centre, China developed transgenic beef cattle to produce meat containing higher content of n-3 PUFAs.

The n-3 PUFAs is a result of the conversion of n-6 PUFAs by fat1 gene from Caenorhabditis elegans. By using this concept, the researchers were able to successfully produce transgenic beef cattle rich in n-3 PUFAs by creating a plasmid with codon optimized C. elegans fat1 gene through somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Read the full details of their study at Biotechnology Letters.