This little piggy hasn’t gone to market

As of February 2010 the global population is estimated at 6.8 billion. Nine billion people are expected to inhabit the Earth by 2050. As the population grows, the amount of available cropland, fresh water and other key resources is quickly shrinking. The number of undernourished people already exceeds one billion—how do we feed the world without exacerbating environmental problems and simultaneously cope with climate change?

We need new and innovative solutions, and we need them fast.
Researchers at the University of Guelph have developed transgenic pigs which digest a form of phosphorus they would normally excrete, resulting in manure 30-65% lower in phosphorus pollution, and therefore less harmful to groundwater.

The pigs have had a mouse gene inserted into their DNA resulting in a chemical being released in their saliva which allows them to digest cereal grain phosphorus and eliminating the need to supplement with mineral phosphate.

It has been reported that Environment Canada has determined that the transgenic Yorkshire pigs are not toxic to the environment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The official announcement is expected on Saturday. This is the first regulatory hurdle in the process to get these little piggies to market.

We need to be careful, but we also need to act swift. The decisions we make need to be made on the data, and not slowed down by irrational fears.

Alternative sources:

University of Guelph

Calgary Harold