TB in cattle could become a thing of the past. Recent research carried out by a group of veterinary scientists in Yangling, China involved inserting a mouse SP110 gene into the genome of Holstein–Friesian cattle. These genetically engineered cattle were more resistant to TB.

They used a system to add the mouse gene SP110 to a specific location in the bovine genome and created transgenic cattle with increased resistance to tuberculosis. A significant concern in the cultivation of transgenic animals is whether the transgene becomes a heritable characteristic and is maintained in offspring. In this study, they acquired three offspring calves of the transgenic cattle by means of artificial insemination, and one calf was confirmed to be heterozygous for SP110 knockin by Southern blot.

The SP110 transgenic cattle could control the growth and multiplication of M. bovis, by activating a different pathway of cell death therby efficiently resisting the low dose of M. bovis transmitted from tuberculous cattle in nature.

The researchers argue that these results demonstrate that inserting SP110 into cattle is a highly promising technique for creating resistance to M. bovis infection and that this genome modification for tuberculosis resistance in cattle is heritable.

Prof Bruce Whitelaw, of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, said the world faced unprecedented population growth and food security was an international imperative. “Society needs to embrace many strategies to address this global challenge - both traditional and new - with many seeing genetic engineering as contributing to the much needed solutions,”