Enviropig: A Bioengineered Pig That Excretes Fewer Pollutants
This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home. And this little piggy is genetically modified to poop less phosphorus, making it the most environmentally friendly pig in the world. Like all animals, pigs' cells need phosphorus to make DNA, build cell membranes, and transport energy. But pigs can't digest phytate, a phosphorus-heavy molecule in grains, so farmers fortify pig feed with pure phosphate or phytase, an enzyme that breaks usable phosphate off phytate. Still, pigs excrete nearly all the phosphorus they eat, and this washes into the ocean, where it feeds bacteria and algae that create oxygen "dead zones," a major killer of marine wildlife. Related ArticlesGenetically Engineered Pig Lung Successfully Oxygenates Human Blood, Paving the Way For Transplants Dutch Scientists Grow First Pork Meat In LabThe Science of SwineTagsScience, environment, enviropig, headlines, October 2010, phosphorus, phytate, pigsThe Enviropig is the first swine (a Yorkshire, to be exact) able...