Mar 26, 6:36 PM EST

Pursuing Healthier Bacon Through Biotech

By PAUL ELIAS
AP Biotechnology Writer

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A microscopic worm may be the key to heart-friendly 
bacon.

Geneticists have mixed DNA from the roundworm C. elegans and pigs to produce 
swine with significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids - the kind believed to 
stave off heart disease.

Researchers hope they can improve the technique in pork and do the same in 
chickens and cows. In the process, they also want to better understand human 
disease.

"We all can use more omega-3 in our diet," said Dr. Jing Kang, the Harvard 
Medical School researcher who modified the omega-3-making worm gene so it 
turned on in the pigs.



Kang is one of 17 authors of the paper appearing Sunday in an online edition 
of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The cloned, genetically engineered pigs are the latest advance in the 
agricultural biotechnology field, which is struggling to move beyond 
esoteric products such as bug-repelling corn and soy resistant to weed 
killers.

Hoping to create healthier, cheaper and tastier products that consumers 
crave, Monsanto Co. of St. Louis and its biotech farming competitors like 
DuPont are developing omega-3-producing crops that yield healthier cooking 
oils. Kang said 30 academic laboratories are now working with his omega-3 
gene, presumably pursuing similar projects.

"Consumers have responded pretty positively when asked their opinion of food 
modified to improve food quality and food safety, just as long as the taste 
isn't altered negatively," said Christine Bruhn, director of the Center for 
Consumer Research at the University of California, Davis.

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Earlier experiments have succeeded in manipulating animals' fat content but 
most never made it out of the lab because of taste problems.

While boosting Omega-3s doesn't decrease the fat content in pigs, the fatty 
acids are also important to brain development and may reduce the risk of 
Alzheimer's disease and depression. The American Heart Association 
recommends at least two weekly servings of fish, particularly fatty fish 
like trout and salmon, which are naturally high in omega-3s.

People already eat genetically engineered soy beans in all manner of 
processed food, but biotech companies run into what bioethicists call the 
"yuck factor" when they begin tinkering with animals.

The Food and Drug Administration has never approved food derived from 
genetically engineered animals. Unlike crops, the FDA treats such animals as 
medicine and requires extensive testing before approval.

"We understand that this research is in the very early stages," FDA 
spokeswoman Rae Jones said. "This technology will not likely reach meat 
counters for many years."

The FDA is still considering Waltham, Mass.-based Aqua Bounty Technologies' 
application to market a salmon genetically engineered to grow faster, the 
only such request pending with the agency. Aqua Bounty began its federal 
application process about nine years ago and there is no indication when the 
FDA will rule.

In the meantime, the researchers of the latest project said they will use 
their genetically engineered pigs to study human disease, especially heart 
conditions.

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On the Net:

Nature Biotech: http://www.nature.com/nbt/index.html

FDA: http://www.fda.gov

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