Good news for farmers in new gene editing lab
An animal carcass. East Coast Fever is deadly and can wipe out an entire herd
What you need to know:
- The lab will use the CRISPR-Cas, targeting East Coast Fever
- USAid awarded Kenyan scientists and their international counterparts US$6 million (about Sh651 million)
- East Coast Fever is deadly and can wipe out an entire herd
Livestock farmers have a reason to smile after a lab was established in Kenya to help fight East Coast Fever.
The lab will use the CRISPR-Cas, a technology used in livestock to remove genes in the animal that make them vulnerable to certain diseases, in this case East Coast Fever.
The Feed the Future Animal Health Innovation Lab and research programme in Nairobi will also make improved vaccines for East Coast Fever, a parasite carried by ticks that can wipe out herds.
The United States Agency for International Development awarded Kenyan scientists and their international counterparts US$6 million (about Sh651 million) to establish the lab, which will serve Kenya and Africa.
Headed by the Kenyan arm of Washington State University’s Paul Allen School for Global Health, the centre will also collaborate with the International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization, Kenya Medical Research Institute and University of Nairobi.
Food security threat
East Coast Fever is deadly, and once the animal falls sick, its lymph nodes swell, immunity falls, and it eventually dies of suffocation due to lung infection. The Food and Agriculture Organization says healthy local breeds are exposed to the disease at a younger age and can develop an immunity.
Director of the lab, Dr Thumbi Mwangi, said such deaths of livestock impoverish farmers, threatening food security. “Twelve African countries are affected by East Coast Fever, impacting approximately 20 million small-scale livestock holders,” said Dr Mwangi on the American university’s website.
