Genetic strain of pig touted for health

If a new kind of pork makes it to the dinner table, healthy eaters worried about fat and heart disease might finally be free to, well, pig out.

Scientists using genetic engineering techniques have produced pigs rich in omega-3 fatty acids – a kind of healthy fat abundant in fish but not naturally found in meat.

Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to offer some protection against heart attacks, and federal nutrition guidelines recommend adults include them in their diets.

But “some people are not going to eat fish no matter what,” said Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University who was not involved in the study. “This is a way people who don’t like fish can benefit.”

There is one little question looming over the potential feast. Because the research is in its early stages, no one has yet sampled the pigs to see if they still taste like pork.

Harvard University’s Jing Kang, one of the scientists involved in the experiment, is confident the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the new pigs aren’t high enough to ruin the flavor.

“There should be no difference,” he said, adding that, as far as he can tell, the pigs “don’t smell fishy.”

The team of scientists from Harvard, the University of Missouri and the University of Pittsburg used a gene from an earthworm, which naturally produces omega-3 fatty acids, to genetically modify their pigs.

The researchers began by harvesting more than 1,600 eggs from female pigs. They removed the genetic material from the eggs and replaced it with new DNA that had the earthworm gene inserted.

The manipulated embryos were then implanted into 14 surrogate mothers. Ten male piglets were born, and DNA analysis showed that six had the earthworm gene, according to the study published online Sunday in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.

Getting the pigs to market could be a challenge. The Food and Drug Administration has not allowed any genetically altered animals to enter the food chain, despite scientific studies showing the animals are safe.

Kang, meanwhile, is looking at new culinary possibilities.

“Pig was the first,” he said. “But transgenic chickens, cows and fish are on the way, too.”