Applications of CRISPR/Cas9 for Genome-Editing Technologies in Livestock Production

Name : ANWAR Khairil

Student ID : 292240512
The demand for animal products is increasing significantly on a global scale as a result of growth
population, urbanization, and rising income. Food safety and effectiveness of animal production are both
becoming extremely crucial to improve (Godfray et al. 2010). Therefore, the currently advanced
technology of genome editing in livestock production serves a chance to accelerate the genetic
improvement of livestock, particularly changing production traits, improving resistance to disease and
animal welfare (Tan et al. 2013). Genome-edited animals that increase sustainable animal productivity
will play an important role to supply the global food demand.
Genome-editing technologies have been used for many practical applications in various livestock
production sectors, for example, breeding animals with disease resistance, enriching milk composition,
increasing performance of livestock growth to produce lots of meat, and generating hornless animals.
Recently, CRISPR/Cas9 system is one of the most advanced gene-engineering tool that enables
scientists for modifying and changing gene functions in livestock (Khwatenge and Nahashon, 2021).
CRISPR/Cas9 systems depend on RNA-DNA binding, unlike other technologies for genome
engineering that relies on protein-DNA interactions. This is a notable part of the CRISPR/Cas9 system
that affords it more fidelity and higher flexibility. CRISPR/Cas9 encodes RNA-guided nucleases which
are a defence mechanism of bacteria against phage infection (Bhaya et al. 2011). The application of
CRISPR/Cas9 involving mammalian cells needs the expression of mammalian codon optimized Cas9
protein. Furthermore, CRISPR RNA (crRNAs) and tracrRNAs have to be expressed either individually
or in combination with an RNA polymerase III promoter (Cong et al. 2013). For ease of use and design,
crRNA was engineered to form a single-guide RNA (sgRNA or gRNA). The crRNA complementary to
the foreign sequences guides the Cas proteins for DNA cleavage and produces DNA double-strand break
(DSB) that makes genome editing possible in the majority of species (Raza et al. 2022).
CRISPR/Cas9 technology has also been shown in studies to effectively edit embryonic genomes
as early as the zygote stage (Shing and Ali, 2021). In addition, CRISPR/Cas9 systems can be
programmed to target multiple genomic sites in an organ of an organism with the specific regions of the
genome that are 20-30 bp in size. The introduction of nucleases into cells can be done using three
methods, such as, 1) somatic cell nuclear transfer, 2) cytoplasmic microinjection and 3) electroporation
(Raza et al. 2022).
CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been successful to be applied in the improvement of animal
production. One of the most popular instances in CRIPSR application for editing the animal genome is
improving livestock performance to produce lots of meat by knocking out of myostatin (MSTN) which
results the double muscling phenotype in consequence of hyperplasia and hypertrophy of muscle fibers.
In the beginning, researchers discovered that the MSTN phenotype could be found naturally in Belgian
Blue cattle and Texel sheep which helped them to consider the application of DNA nuclease and make
the replication of this phenotype in lines of cattle, goats, sheep, and pig (Bi et al. 2016). The muscular
mass of genetically engineered animals was greater than non-modified counterparts. This means that the
meat production for each animal with genome modification will be much more over the animal without
genome engineering. CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing can also be applied for targeting and
modifying specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are known to affect economically
important traits in livestock (Wells and Prather, 2017).
CRISPR/Cas9 system has also been applied in dairy industries, particularly in improving
production capacity or enriching milk composition. Studies have also reported that the major ß-
lactoglobulin gene that encodes a major milk protein in goats can be knocked out by using CRISPR/Cas9
(Zhou et al. 2017). This explains that genome editing technologies can improve goat milk and produce
an alternative to humans that are intolerant to lactose or other milk components (Raza et al. 2022).
I state clearly that the application of CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing will be very helpful to
increase the production capacity of livestock to meet the animal product requirements. The impact of
this technology can lead to the efficient and improvement of sustainability of livestock production, of
course with a wise application and consider the ethical code and animal welfare.