Gene editing to survive climate change?

To ensure cows have a better chance of survival in a future with intense climate change heat waves, scientists have successfully edited a bovine's genomes using the popular CRISPR technique to change the animal from having black and white patterning to grey and white.

Gene editing changes cow spots from black to grey

CRISPR genome editing resulted in successfully transforming this calf's black patches to grey. Crown Research Institute AgResearch

This novel approach hopes to improve the livestocks' ability to survive in a changing climate environment. You can learn more about this particular cow and the genome editing process here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256097-cattle-are-being-gene-edited-to-help-them-survive-climate-change/

As impressive as it might be, we can't help but ask is this going to be enough to help their survival, and is it even the right approach to begin with? If the goal is to increase survivability, shouldn't we want to reduce the carbon footprint? Perhaps reducing cows' methane emissions would do more for us than changing the cow's spot colors. We'll be watching this space closely to find ou

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