Chinese scientists have created heavily muscled super-dogs using gene editing technology called CRISPER. (Photo : Reuters)
Chinese scientists have created heavily muscled super-dogs using gene editing technology called CRISPER. The experiment, which involved deletion of a single gene called myostatin, was carried out on two beagle puppies named Tiangou and Hercules.
A new milestone in the field of genetic engineering has been set. Researchers from Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health China have successfully deleted a gene from the entire body of two beagle dogs, altering their genetic makeup in its entirety. As the result of the gene editing therapy, the dogs have doubled in muscular mass.
The ground-breaking results were published in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology. According to the Chinese scientists, the goal was to create mutant dogs with induced genetic abnormalities like Parkinson's and muscular dystrophy, so that these animals could be used for lab testing.
In muscular dystrophy is an inherent genetic condition that causes progressive weakening of the muscles. Myostatin, also called differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8), is a protein naturally produced by muscle cells has an inhibitory effect on muscle cell growth and differentiation. In theory, controlling myostatin could lead to the cure for the said genetic anomaly.
In their experiment, the team of researchers from China used CRISPR-Cas 9, which is commonly referred to as CRISPER, is a recently discovered DNA editing tool with very efficient results. It is the most advanced and precise technique that genetic engineers have at hand to modify targeted genes of a living organism.
According to the details by the Telegraph, the Chinese scientists injected especially programmed CRISPER in over 60 dog embryos, aiming to make myostatin dysfunctional by deleting or disrupting it. As the results came out, of the 65 experimental embryos, 27 survived but only Tiangou and Hercules exhibited disruption of GDF-8 gene. Both beagle puppies showed marked muscle growth compared to the other puppies.
Tiangou, the female puppy has shown more muscular enhancement than the male puppy, Hercules, who is still producing some myostatin and is consequentially less muscular. Whereas the CRISPER mediated dog muscle enhancement is seen as a scientific break-through, it has also raised concerns about its possible and premature implementation in human beings.
