Expert offers insight into new swine genetics research

states. “Historically, there hasn’t been any solutions to a lot of these viruses, so it has been exciting to see what we can do through genetic engineering.”

Other projects Prather shares include a solution for mastitis in cattle and heart-healthy pigs, which can convert omega-six fatty acids to omega-three fatty acids.

Use in human medicine

In addition to the many applications in agriculture, swine research has also been integral in the advancement of human medicine.

“Swine are the optimal species for a lot of medical conditions where research on other species just won’t work,” Prather states. “A lot of research has been done on mice, but unfortunately they are not able to answer some important questions.”

He says one example of this shows up in cystic fibrosis research.

“Cystic fibrosis is caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene, and it pulls out a single amino acid in a long string. The chloride ion transport can be knocked out in mice, but we still get all of the symptoms of cystic fibrosis,” he explains.

“For example, 15 percent of people with cystic fibrosis have mucoviscidosis, which is a mucus plug in the intestine. This makes it so they can’t defecate, and the intestine has to be opened up for the patient to survive,” he adds. “There is also blockage of the gallbladder, bile duct and pancreatic duct, they have liver lesions, and males may have blocked vas deferens. On top of all of this, they usually get lung disease.”

Prather notes when this mutation occurs in pigs, 100 percent of them have the same symptoms as people.

“Now, physicians can go in invasively and monitor progression and development of disease in a way that just wasn't possible prior to this,” he says.

Another example where swine research has benefitted human medicine is through the use of green pigs, according to Prather.

He explains green pigs have been genetically modified by adding genes from jellyfish to make them selffluoresce, which makes them useful for tracking studies.

He gives the example of Baby Owen, a newborn from North Carolina who needed a valve replaced in his heart.

“A colleague from the Medical University of South Carolina came to us and said there is a problem when a baby is born and they need a new heart valve, because although they can transplant a heart valve for the baby, the valve doesn’t grow as the baby grows,” Prather shares. “So, babies with this issue have to have life-long repetitive surgeries.”

Prather continues, “They had this idea that if they took a bigger piece of the heart – a partial heart transplant, in other words – with more tissue around the valve, the valves would grow with the baby. They used some of our green pigs so they could track which cells grew.”

Prather notes the research was successful, and Baby Owen was the first human in history to undergo this new partial heart transplant. The valve grew with him, and he never had to have another surgery.

“I got an e-mail right before Christmas from Baby Owenʼs family. He got to celebrate his first Christmas this past year because of the work all of us had done,” Prather states. “It’s really exciting because we are impacting lives and improving quality of life.”

Hurdles and roadblocks

Although the same could be true for livestock through agriculture application, Prather says projects which have found solutions to many costly and animalwelfare related issues, like mastitis and PRRS, have been hung up in hurdles and roadblocks in the way of regulatory approval.

“The Food and Drug Administration regulates intentionally changing the letter of a genome in a pig, or any mammal, as they would a new drug. It costs an awful lot of money to get approved, which is the hold up for some of our projects,” he explains.

“It’s interesting when we put things into erspective, because at every fertilization there is one to 200 random mutations occurring in the genome, and nobody regulates that. Nobody perceives these mutations as a health risk,” he notes.

Prather further notes there is no regulation for mutagenesis of pigs through radiation or changing letters in the genome of mushrooms to increase their shelf life.

“We have a solution to a lot of the problems we see in agriculture, but when trying to get it through regulatory approval, there are a lot of hurdles to jump over,” he says.

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) BeefWatch podcast welcomed Dr. Brian Vander Ley, a Nebraska Extension veterinary epidemiologist, on Feb. 1 to discuss an article titled “Preparing for calving season” in the February UNL BeefWatch newsletter.

Key considerations

Vander Ley notes the window of calving for producers across the U.S. is relatively wide. Many producers may already be calving, so preparation in this case may look differently. But, regardless of when producers start

Discusses Calving Season Preparation Considerations

calving, it is important their cows go into the season with adequate nutrition to make good colostrum.

“They need to have good body condition scores,” he says. “We want cows to successfully deliver a calf without complications, and then we want the calf to drink colostrum.”

He adds one of the most critical events in any animal’s life, especially cattle, is the ingestion of colostrum.

“Once a calf is born, we want the colostrum meal to happen quickly, and we want it to be an uninterrupted, streamlined event to pack the calf full of protective antibodies,” he says. “A lot of things I think about in terms of prevention and management at calving time centers around making sure these events go smoothly.”

The article notes several other calving season preparation considerations.

These include paying attention to nutritional needs of bred heifers or cows prior to calving, reviewing a herd health plan with a veterinarian, examining calving facilities and making sure they are in good working order and checking calving supplies and reviewing stages of parturition to understand when assistance is needed.

Additionally the article encourages producers to have colostrum or colostrum replacement products on hand, have a plan and equipment for warming calves when calving during cold weather and have a plan to provide wind protection along with a clean, dry environment.

Planning for complications

“Calves who have a difficult birth or experience hypothermia are at a much higher

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risk for not being able to consume important colostrum,” says Vander Ley.

He notes identifying calves at risk is important. A quick test producers can do to figure out whether or not intervention is necessary is to stick a couple of fingers in a calf’s mouth to test their sucking reflex.

“With a normal calf, when we stick a couple of fingers in their mouth, they should suck pretty vigorously a few times. It’s a built-in reflex. They are not actively thinking about it and should just be able to do it – it’s how they are made. But, if they don’t, it’s usually a good indication there are some problems impairing their ability to nurse and absorb colostrum,” he explains.

In these situations, the best solution is to milk the cow and feed the colostrum to the calf by hand. If a producer is unable to milk a cow, Vander Ley explains using a high-quality colostrum replacement product is an option.

He advises producers to avoid using frozen colostrum from another source, because it’s a way to transmit disease.

Esophageal feeders or oral gastric tubes can be an effective way to get colostrum into a calf, but the best way, according to Vander Ley, is to use a bottle and nipple.

“The best way to deliver colostrum would be nursing from the dam, the second best would be from a bottle and the third best would delivering it via some kind of tube,” he shares.

He adds if calves are unable to nurse, esophageal feeders or oral gastric tubes would be better than not delivering it at all. Choosing colostrum products

Vander Ley shares there are two big categories of colostrum products. They include colostrum supplements and colostrum replacers.

“Colostrum supplements tend to be a small dose of antibodies, and the source tends to be different,” he says. “Whereas high-quality colostrum replacement products have dried colostrum from a cow.”

He notes cows only make colostrum for a short period of time, so colostrum replacement products are typically more expensive. However, this is the ideal product to use.

Additionally, Vander Ley advises producers to pay attention to product labels as each product has dosage recommendations and mixing temperature directions.

A fresh crop of calves is something cow/calf producers look forward to. Having a plan and preparing ahead of time for the calving season can help to minimize calf loss and reduce stress.

“One of my best pieces of advice is to assess and make a plan,” concludes Vander Ley. “If the plan is not executable quickly, then quickly make a new plan and move on.”

Brittany Gunn is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.