Hornless cattle were once the poster animals for a gene-editing revolution, until the FDA found a pesky mistake in their DNA. In this episode, we go to a California research farm to explore unintended consequences.

Clarification: The FDA has an established process for researchers to request authorization to put animals with investigational genomic alterations, including those made with CRISPR, into the food supply. But the FDA does not issue orders to incinerate those animals. The cattle at the heart of this story were ultimately incinerated.

Interviews:

• Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, Extension Specialist: Animal Biotechnology and Genomics, Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis
  • Her 2022 study "Animal Health and Food Safety Analyses of Six Offspring of a Genome-Edited Hornless Bull."
• Dr. Alexis L. Norris, Division of Animal Bioengineering and Cellular Therapies Center for Veterinary Medicine, The Food and Drug Administration

Credits

A CRISPR Bite is supported by the Jean Monnet Network, which is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union through the GEAP-3 Network of scientists. More about our project here. This podcast does not reflect the views of our funders.

This podcast was co-written and hosted by Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr. Our executive producer is Corinne Ruff. She co-wrote, edited and produced the show. Jake Harper edited this episode. The show was sound designed and engineered by Adriene Lilly. Aaron Crossland made our theme music. Rachael Marr designed our logo. Legal support from New Media Rights and marketing help from Tink Media. Maya Tsingos fact checked this episode.

Thank you to the GEAP-3 team! Special thanks to Matthew Schnurr, Klara Fischer, and Glenn Stone for their support and advice on this podcast.

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