Revolutionising livestock farming

A trailblazing research initiative at the Easter Bush Agritech Hub is harnessing engineering biology in farmed animals to help solve global crises such as food security.

Experts at the new Roslin Engineering Biology Hub are exploring how genetic selection and genome editing tools can develop healthier, more sustainable and more productive livestock. Professor Mark Stevens, Personal Chair of Microbial Pathogenesis and co-lead for the Hub at the world-renowned Roslin Institute, said: “Engineering biology is one of the UK Government’s critical technology missions. It’s the application of engineering principles to design, build and test new biological systems for useful purposes.

“Our Hub is primarily delivering for food systems but could potentially address environmental solutions and clean growth if we can make animals have less impact on the environment.

“We can only do this thanks to the decades of research at the Roslin Institute. Roslin has produced a vast amount of data on how farm animal genomes are organised, expressed and controlled that now allow us to make precise changes in the genome to confer beneficial traits.”

Data-Driven Research

The Roslin Engineering Biology Hub launched in July 2025 thanks to £5 million in funding from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Gates Foundation, Roslin Foundation and as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. The team’s research focuses on:

• Target identification of candidates for genome editing; • Developing cellular and multicellular models to test the impact of edits in the genome;
• Reproductive technologies to introduce genetic variation in breeding schemes;
• Engineering animals to improve their productivity, efficiency and welfare, to control diseases and model diseases that occur in humans.

Senior Research Fellow Dr Finn Grey, the Hub’s other co-lead, explained: “There are two main aspects we’re looking to deliver with the Hub – ambition and outcomes. “The ambition side is building on what Roslin does really well but taking it to the next level. Outcomes are key because we really need to have an impact on the food we end up eating.”

Achievements

Success stories include Roslin’s  work to engineer pigs that  are resistant to porcine  reproductive and  respiratory syndrome  (PRRS) – a disease that  costs producers about  £1.75 billion every year.  The US Food and Drug  Administration approved  the use of the gene-edited  pigs resistant to PRRS in the  food supply chain in May 2025.  Other successes include classical  swine fever-resistant pigs, avian flu-resistant chickens and work on African swine fever resistance.

The team is keen to ease any concerns around the ethics of gene editing. Dr Grey said: “African swine fever kills billions of pigs and impacts the economy. There’s a huge carbon footprint where those animals are not going into the food chain but still take up resources. “Now, if you can have a pig that has a simple gene edit that makes them resistant to that virus, why would you not use that? “The changes in the genome we’ve been doing are the sort achieved for hundreds of years through selective breeding.”

Benefits

The team is keen to collaborate with other researchers and to partner with animal breeding and health companies. Another priority is offering training. Dr Lindsay Henderson, Hub Coordinator, added: “The Hub is uniquely positioned to deliver hands-on training in engineering biology, bringing world-leading expertise and cutting-edge facilities together in one place.”

Find out more at the website vet.ed.ac.uk/roslin/engineering-biology or contact the team at EngBioHub@roslin.ed.ac.uk