The first genetically modified calf was bred in the Urals - Anna Krivonogova

The first genetically modified calf appeared in the Sverdlovsk region. For the first time in Russia, Ural scientists have developed a technology that allows you to change the cow genome already at the level of one cell, Anna Krivonogova, a leading researcher at the Ural Federal Agrarian Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biology, said in an interview.

"We chose three targets for change: susceptibility to bovine leukemia, the presence of horns, the content of an allergy-causing protein in milk. At the moment, we have developed a technology that allows us to change the genome of a cow. This is the first experimental calf in our work, we are already at the level of one cell blocked the gene for susceptibility to leukemia," Krivonogova said.

Leukemia is one of the most common infectious diseases in cattle. The milk of cows infected with leukemia is unsuitable in composition, technological properties, safety - the level of amino acid composition, lactose, protein, casein is reduced, the number of somatic cells is increased. There are studies proving the connection between the consumption of meat and milk of animals with leukemia and the development of cancer in humans, the press service of the center reported.

In the course of the study, scientists proposed changing the cow's genome by introducing an adenovirus into the original cell, in which the editing system was placed. This method allowed them to exclude the appearance of a suppressed area not only in the edited animal, but also in its offspring.

The Ural Federal Agrarian Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences was established with the aim of developing the fundamental principles and technologies in crop and animal husbandry to provide the population with high-quality food through renewable natural resources and life support technologies, protecting human and animal health. It includes five research centers in Yekaterinburg, Kurgan and Chelyabinsk.