Genetically Modified Hornless Cows

Scientists have created genetically modified hornless cows to make countryside safer.

13:05 22 February 2017

Many cows have their horns cut or burnt off as calves in a bid to protect farmers, walkers and other animals. A new genetic modification technique, in which cows are bred without horns, could put an end to this practice.

 

Scientists from the University of California used gene-editing technique to remove the DNA responsible for horn growth in black-and-white Holsteins, a popular breed of cows. This comes after reports of incidents in which people are killed by cows. In the UK, around five Britons are killed by cows every year. In the United States, it is 25 individuals in the same time span, of which 75per cent are known to be deliberate attacks.

 

Dr Van Eenennaam, who presented her research at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston, said: 'Genome editing promises to complement traditional breeding programs by precisely introducing desirable genetic variations into livestock breeding programs.'

 

She added: 'A number of breeding methods, including artificial insemination, embryo transfer, crossbreeding and, more recently, genomic selection, have been used to achieve these improvements,'