Using CRISPR to stop male calves being born may lower animal suffering

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By Michael Marshall

For many livestock animals, being born male means an instant death sentence. Male dairy calves are unwanted because they do not produce milk, while male chickens are routinely killed as soon as they hatch because they do not lay eggs.

Now researchers are proposing a radical solution to this slaughter: genetically engineering the animals we eat so that they mostly produce female offspring. The idea could reduce animal suffering and improve farms’ profitability, but is likely to collide with public opposition to genetically-modified organisms.

Researchers led by Motti Gerlic and …