In a breakthrough that could have major implications for the pork industry, scientists have successfully gene-edited pigs to make them resistant to a devastating viral disease.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a highly contagious disease that can cause significant economic losses to pig farmers. In the United States alone, PRRS is estimated to cost the industry more than $600 million annually.

Currently, there is no effective vaccine against PRRS, and the only way to control the disease is to quarantine infected animals and implement strict biosecurity measures.

The new research, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, describes how scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to disable a gene that is essential for the PRRS virus to replicate.

The scientists injected the gene-edited pigs with the PRRS virus, and they found that the pigs were completely resistant to the disease.

"This is a major breakthrough in the fight against PRRS," said Dr. Brad Haley, co-author of the study and assistant professor of animal sciences at the University of Illinois. "This technology has the potential to revolutionize the pork industry and save farmers millions of dollars."

The next step is to conduct field trials to confirm the efficacy of the gene-edited pigs in a commercial setting. If the field trials are successful, the gene-edited pigs could be available to farmers as early as 2023.

The development of gene-edited pigs resistant to PRRS is a major milestone in the field of agricultural biotechnology. It demonstrates the potential of gene editing to improve the health and welfare of livestock, and it could have a significant impact on the global food supply.