Chilean scientists seek to tackle country's barriers to gene editing

An international conference discussing gene editing in aquaculture has illustrated the regulatory and scientific-technological challenges faced by Chile, the world’s second-largest salmon producer, according to one of its organisers.

Genetic specialists and scientists, aquaculture producers, and academic representatives gathered in Puerto Varas, Chile, last week for the First International Meeting on Genome Editing in Aquaculture.

The two-day event was held under the EDIGEN initiative created in the Aquaculture Genomics and Genetics Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (Favet) of the University of Chile. Its aim was to create a space for dialogue and collaborative work that would bring together information and approaches towards regulation on genetic editing in Chile.

Dr José Manuel Yáñez, dean of Favet and director of the EDIGEN initiative, said: “We have experienced a series of presentations from highly relevant researchers at the international level and gained some valuable insights, mainly the challenges our country faces in the regulatory and scientific-technological fields of genetic editing.

“We confirmed that our main competitors or countries involved in aquaculture have made very advanced developments and, at the same time, have established regulatory frameworks already in place, having begun these discussions some time ago.”

'A sensible approach'

Speakers included Alison Van Eenennaam, a professor at the University of California–Davis in the United States; Nick Robinson, a scientist at Norwegian research institute Nofima and an academic in Aquaculture Genetics at Deakin University, Australia; Ross Houston, chief scientific officer at Benchmark Genetics and former professor at Edinburgh University's Roslin Institute; and Derek Bickhart, bioinformatician at Hendrix Genetics.

Van Eenennaam’s research and outreach focus on the use and regulation of genomics and animal biotechnology in livestock production systems, as well as the development of gene-editing methods for cattle and sheep.

“It exactly mimics the genetic variation that occurs naturally, which is the basis of all our breeding programmes. I think that globaly the regulatory approach has been that if there is no new DNA - in the sense of a transgene, if you want - they will not be treated differently from conventional breeding. I think that really is a sensible approach, one that will allow us to introduce these useful characteristics, like disease resistance, into aquaculture breeding programmes,” said the scientist.

Robinson currently leads an international initiative using gene editing to understand the mechanisms that affect salmon resistance to sea lice.

“In our project we have been using gene editing, among other tools, to try to develop knowledge about the genes that make coho and pink salmon more resistant to sea lice,” said Robinson.

“We have been looking at how we can use this knowledge - which involves genes and cellular mechanisms - to try to make Atlantic salmon more like coho salmon in their resistance to sea lice.”

Research sovereignty

Through various initiatives and research efforts, the University of Chile proposes that gene editing can be a key tool for making aquaculture, and animal production in general, more sustainable, efficient and competitive.

Professor Miguel Allende, academic at the Faculty of Sciences and director of the Millennium Institute Centre for Genome Regulation at the University of Chile, discussed the scope of gene editing in Chile using zebrafish as a model, as well as the role of academia in generating cutting-edge knowledge.

“Conducting this research in Chile is very important because it gives us a kind of sovereignty in terms of the most recent molecular biology technologies, and it also provides us with some autonomy to develop our own advancements, independent of what is happening in other countries with different interests around the world,” said Allende.

Policy recommendations

One of EDIGEN’s main objectives has been to open a broad, well-informed dialogue involving public, private, academia and civil society actors. The international seminar strengthens this scientific-technical exchange, which now presents new challenges.

In conclusion, EDIGEN director Yáñez said: “We therefore project - together with public entities, the private sector, and with very important support from academia - to address these challenges over the coming year, in order to establish, first, a document with public policy recommendations created jointly with public institutions and, at the same time, a guideline analysing and assessing the main challenges, risks and benefits of these technologies for their practical implementation in the country.”