Engineering superior swine

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Jan 20th 2006 @ 5:39PM

In an effort to breed better pork, the USDA will give $10 million to the University of Illinois to obtain a draft sequence of swine genome. The goal of the project is to create DNA-based tools to identify and propagate pigs that are more resistant to disease, breed larger litters and produce leaner meat. It's worth noting that heirloom pork has gained popularity, in part, because it isn't lean. The USDA isn't just seeking leaner pigs, but bigger, meatier pigs in general. The project would also try to identify the ideal climates for different breeds of pig, thereby allowing the animals to grow to their fullest potential. Work is scheduled to end in late 2007--the Chinese year of the pig.

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Filed Under: Science, Farming, Ingredients
Tags: breeding, dna, genome, pork, swine, university of illinois, usda

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-20-2006 @6:07PM Dmnkly said... Oy... this is incredibly disappointing. Pork is going in the wrong direction.

I travel to China regularly, and the difference in the quality of the pork is simply stunning. It's like it's a different beast altogether (and in some ways, I suppose it is). Don't get me wrong, I support healthy eating and I think it's great for people to have lean pork as an alternative. But it's already nearly impossible to get good (meaning tasty) pork here in the States, and I don't see this helping.
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1-20-2006 @9:29PM Mike said... Ick! Time for me to make sure I'm supporting providers of heirloom pork.

I lived in Japan for a while and used to be able to walk to Tony Roma's for ribs. They were much much better than anything I'd had a Tony Roma's here in the states. I'd always claimed that they must be using "real" pigs from China or something that hadn't been bred to be all lean and dry like American pigs.

As I listened today about the Japanese again blocking import of American beef my first thought was "why would they want it?". As expensive as some of the local beef was there, the high quality and beautiful marbeling is something I really miss. If I was there, and could afford it, I'd never buy U.S. meat.
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