WSU researcher helps lead report on genetically-modified food animals

A Washington State University (WSU) researcher was among a select few scientists who unveiled a national report which will shape the future of research and regulation around the genetic modification of cattle, pigs and other food animals.

Jon Oatley, whose extensive research and public appearances have made him a prominent ambassador for the field, was one of four members of a committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine who introduced the Congressionally-mandated report in a recent public webinar.

The report’s release followed two years of committee meetings, study and peer review and it details the state of the research on genetically-modified food animals, lays out areas of caution moving forward and identifies subjects ripe for future research.

“The potential impact of this report is huge,” said Oatley, associate dean for research for the College of Veterinary Medicine and professor at WSU. “It is intended to be a guidebook – a bible if you will – for what we’re doing in the world of genetic modification of food animals to feed the world in a more sustainable and secure way. Its impact is going to ripple across the globe.”

Report highlights

Though the report stopped short of declaring absolutely there is no human health hazard from genetically-modified foods, committee members emphasized they believe such foods are safe to eat and noted they would have to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before entering the market.

They highlighted several areas where more research is needed, emphasized the importance of continued study of health implications for humans and animals and called for a study group into consumer attitudes toward the products.

As the global population grows – and as the land, water and resources needed to produce food animals shrink – the use of genetic modifications is seen as a crucial tool for feeding people more efficiently and sustainably. 

The technologies essentially create a high-tech version of selective breeding, which has been used for millennia to improve traits in food animals, by targeting changes in an animal’s DNA which can be passed on to future generations.

This process, known as heritable genetic modification, can be used to breed animals that are more disease resistant, productive or resilient in hot weather, among other traits. 

The FDA has approved three lines of genetically-modified food animals, including Atlantic salmon that grow faster, cattle whose coats provide more heat tolerance and pigs modified to avoid a rare food allergy. None are yet on the consumer market. 

WSU researcher

Oatley was one of 15 experts from institutions all over the country named to the ad hoc committee, formed at the direction of Congress in 2023.

His work focuses on creating new traits in pigs and cattle using tools such as CRISPR, and he’s appeared widely in public – from Congress to the Consumer Electronics Show – to promote the benefits of the technology.

He has published more than 90 scholarly works in the field, and he was the first academic scientist to be granted investigational food-use authorization by the FDA for human consumption of a gene-edited food animal product – a distinction marked on the WSU campus in Pullman, Wash. at an event where sausages made from gene-edited pigs were served to the public.

Oatley mentioned those sausages during his presentation, noting there was a positive reaction from the public.

He said the report will lay the basis for the next stage of development, as more food from genetically-modified animals moves toward the consumer market.

“This is the way we’re going to feed people going forward,” he said.

WSU is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Wash. Founded in 1890, WSU is one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. This article was originally published in BEEF Magazine on April 24.