Pig gene advance could boost sperm stocks from prized animals.

Pig gene advance could boost sperm stocks from prized animals.Gene-editing techniques could help to improve stocks of farmed pigs by boosting supplies of sperm from prized sires. The study is published in the journal Scientific. Scientists have created male pigs that could be used as surrogates capable of producing sperm that contains the genetic blueprint of sought-after pigs. Researchers say the breakthrough will allow farmers to preserve sperm from prized animals in perpetuity. The surrogates have functional testes but do not have specialized stem cells that are required to produce sperm containing their own genetic information, the researchers say. Stem cells from male pigs with desirable characteristics such as greater resilience to disease could be transplanted into the surrogates to produce limitless supplies of their valuable sperm.