🧬Create your own GMO

The final submission of the course consisted of investigating, conceptualizing and proposing a GMO by knowing the different elements that it would be composed of.

The task

The delivery for this seminar was the ideation of a GMO, or genetically modified organism. This term refers to any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. GMOs are used in various applications, including agriculture, medicine and environmental management. However, the use of GMOs is a subject of debate regarding issues such as safety, labeling, and environmental impact.

You don't eat meat because you don't wanna kill an animal? Not anymore

The food industry is at a crossroads. With the global population rising and the demand for meat increasing, we face a number of challenges related to the ethical treatment of animals, sustainability, and food security. The conventional practice of raising animals for meat, especially in factory farms, has come under increasing scrutiny due to its environmental impact and the ethical concerns over animal wellbeing.

While there have been many efforts to find alternative protein sources — from plant-based meats to lab-grown meat — I began thinking: What if we could reduce the need for slaughtering animals altogether? What if, instead of sending animals to slaughter when they’re injured or lose a limb, we could make them capable of regenerating that lost limb?

This concept is inspired by the incredible regenerative abilities of certain animals, like flatworms, and I wondered if we could apply this idea to livestock. Could cows, sheep, or even pigs regrow limbs?

The inspiration: Regeneration in animals

I first became fascinated by the regenerative powers of flatworms, like Planaria, which can regrow entire parts of their bodies after injury. This ability is thanks to a group of stem cells called neoblasts, which can transform into any type of cell needed to regenerate missing tissue.

The concept: Regenerative livestock for the food industry

My idea was simple: by introducing regenerative genes into livestock species, we could enable them to regrow limbs that are lost due to injury or accidents. This would mean that instead of slaughtering an injured cow, sheep, or pig, we could allow it to heal and continue living, while still providing meat for consumption.

How can we achieve this?

The key to making this possible lies in transferring a regenerative gene from an animal that can regenerate its body parts, like Planaria, into livestock. One gene that could be pivotal is Smed-bmp2/4, which helps Planaria regenerate body parts. By introducing this gene into cows or sheep, it might activate the same regenerative processes, enabling them to regrow lost limbs or even organs.

Once I have determined that I’ll be using that gene I can proceed to the next steps.

I would use a technique called PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) to clone the Smed-bmp2/4 gene. This would create many copies of the gene that I could then insert into a plasmid, which is a small circular piece of DNA used to transfer genes into organisms.

The plasmid I would use is called pBI121, a widely used vector in plant and animal genetic engineering. It contains a 35S promoter to ensure that the gene is activated in the livestock cells, particularly in the cells near the injury site.

I would then introduce the plasmid into the livestock genome using viral or bacterial vectors like CRISPR-Cas9. These vectors can deliver the gene into the animal’s cells, ensuring the new gene is incorporated into the genome and expressed during injury.

After successfully transferring the gene, I would breed the transformed livestock to ensure the regenerative trait is passed on. Over time, I would observe whether the animals can regenerate lost limbs or tissues and assess the speed and efficiency of this process.

Once the gene is successfully integrated into the livestock’s DNA, I expect the animals to be able to regenerate lost body parts more effectively. For example, if a cow loses a leg in an accident, the Smed-bmp2/4 gene could trigger the regrowth of new tissue at the injury site, effectively "healing" the cow and allowing it to continue living and producing meat. This could also reduce the need for expensive prosthetics or euthanasia in cases of serious injury.

This idea seems a bit utopian to be made into reality, and to be honest, it really is just that: an idea. When you contemplate the ethical implications of this modification and the society that we live in today, this would actually result in a very big possibility of greater suffering of farm animals. This means the possibility of abusing this ability to profit from the animals at the expense of their wellbeing. To give a more concrete example, the meat industry might make farms dedicated to the mutilation on purpose of animal limbs to feed the world; leaving the animal to lead a lengthy recovery.