The Food and Drug Administration concluded the gene-edited cattle do not raise any safety concerns.
, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said the agency’s review of Recombinetics’ cattle took several months. He said there’s no reason that meat from the animals or their offspring would need to be labeled differently.
“This opens up a completely different pathway,” he said, noting the decision could be encouraging for other biotech companies, many of which are small startups. The trait will make beef production more sustainable and could improve animal welfare in warmer climates, Recombinetics said in a statement without providing further details.
Jaydee Hanson, of the Center for Food Safety, said the agency should keep track of the animals for several generations to ensure there aren’t any unintended issues.U.S. doctors have transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life — a first for medical science.