Gene-Editing Technology Produces Calf Resistant to Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus

Scientists have collaborated to produce the first gene-edited calf with resistance to bovine viral diarrhea virus, a virus that costs the U S cattle sector billions of dollars annually

The recent study published in PNAS Nexus results from a collaboration between the USDA’s Agricultural Research Ser vice, the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, the University of Kentucky, and industr y partners, Acceligen and Recombinetics, Inc

BVDV is one of the most significant viruses affecting the health and well-being of cattle worldwide Researchers have been studying it since the 1940s when it was first recognized This

Dress It Up

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“My mother made her own dressing every night when we were told my father was prediabetic Every man in the family had diabetes and most of them died,” Maroon said “My mom was determined he would not get it

“But she couldn’t find a dressing without sugar, so she made her own, ” Maroon said “My father never developed diabetes ”

However, Maroon –like many of us – found that today’s lifestyle doesn’t always allow for the time to make a nightly salad dressing

She thought about how others might feel, seeing shelves of salad dressing and not knowing what to pick

“There are all these options, but there’s also nothing here that I want to eat,” she thought “There’s nothing here that resembles homemade ingredients And none of them used olive oil They were highly processed

“Salads are supposed to be healthy, but I wasn’t finding healthy options,” Maroon said

Too many dressings were diluted, included the polysaccharide xanthan gum or were loaded with sugar, she said

Maroon began with her mother’s recipe and shared the dressing with friends, which led to selling Dress It Up Dressing at farmers markets, which eventually led a Whole Foods Market associate to taste it and wonder why it wasn’t on store shelves virus does not affect humans but is highly contagious among cattle and can cause severe respiratory and intestinal diseases

BVDV can be disastrous to pregnant cows because it can infect developing calves, causing spontaneous abortions and low birth rates Some infected calves sur vive to birth and remain infected for life, shedding massive amounts of virus to other cattle Despite more than 50 years of vaccine availability, controlling BVDV disease remains a problem since vaccines are not always effective in stopping transmission

However, over the past 20 years, the scientific community discovered the main cellular receptor, CD46, and the area where the virus binds to that re- because it was so good

Maroon knew that beyond taste, her dressings, which stand at six olive oilbased dressing flavors – Champagne Vinaigrette, Blackberr y Vinaigrette, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Apple Cider Vinaigrette, Sesame Tahini Dressing and Caesar Dressing – would appeal to many people who are following dietary restrictions Dress It Up Dressings are free of gluten and sugar, and are vegan, keto and Whole-30 friendly While Dress It Up bottles began selling in 14 Whole Foods Market stores, Maroon realized that the modern on-the-go lifestyle meant many health-conscious eaters couldn’t carry around the 10-ounce bottles or easily put them in school lunches With a loan from Whole Foods, the line expanded to include single-ser ving 1ounce packets in the Champagne Vinaigrette and Sesame Tahini dressing flavors

The packets were set to launch in 2020 in ever y Whole Foods salad bar in the mid-Atlantic region as well as universities and businesses that contracted with Dress It Up for their cafeterias

Then, of course, the pandemic hit and suddenly, nobody was going anywhere Salad bars and cafeterias shut down Thankfully, through an existing partnership with the Washington, D C public schools system, which still was feeding students through the pandemic, Dress It Up began providing dressing for 2,500 students In addition, the company partnered with renowned humanitarian and Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, supplying dressing for 35,000 ceptor, causing infection in cows Scientists modified the virus binding site in this recent study to block infection

Aspen Workman, lead author and researcher at ARS’ U S Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Neb , said, “Our objective was to use gene-editing technology to slightly alter CD46 so it wouldn’t bind the virus yet would retain all its normal bovine functions ”

The scientists first tested this idea in cell culture After seeing promising outcomes in the laborator y, Acceligen edited cattle skin cells to develop embryos carrying the altered gene These embr yos were transplanted into surrogate cows to test whether this approach might also reduce virus infection in live animals

It worked, and the first CD46 geneedited calf, named Ginger, was born healthy on July 19, 2021 The calf was obser ved for several months and then later meals for children, the elderly and first responders

As a result, Maroon was recognized by Stacy’s Rise Project, a program created by Stacy’s Pita Chips and PepsiCo to recognize female leaders in the food industr y A grant and mentorship kept Dress It Up going Now, post-pandemic, Dress It Up is thriving In June, Dress It Up landed on shelves of Whole Foods Markets across the country and in September, the single-serving packets will launch just in time for schools to open Credit for Dress It Up’s success is also due to Maroon’s thorough knowledge about her target consumer “Customers care deeply about what they put in their bodies,” Maroon said, “which is why we ’ re so selective about what we put in our bottles ”

The vast majority of consumers are female and are broken into two categories, she said: the millennial mom who is making healthy meals for her children on a regular basis and wants an easy way to give them healthy dressing and the higher-income millennial woman who demands quality products

Maroon’s attention to detail, from sourcing to labeling to bottling, can’t be ignored, either

In the beginning, Maroon was able to source entirely from one supplier But as demand grew, she had to broaden her sourcing, including finding a compatible co-packer

“I wanted to make sure we had nonGMO suppliers,” Maroon said “I have very specific standards ”

She had a co-packer who suggested shortcuts, such as using canola oil instead of olive oil and adding xanthan gum or cit- challenged with the virus to determine if she could become infected She was housed for a week with a BVDV-infected dairy calf that was born shedding virus Ginger’s cells displayed significantly reduced susceptibility to BVDV, which resulted in no observable adverse health effects

The scientists will continue to closely observe Ginger’s health and ability to produce and raise her own calves

T h i s p ro o f - o f - c o n c e p t s t u d y d e m o ns t r a t e s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f re d u c i n g t h e b u rd e n o f B V D V- a s s o c i a t e d d i s e a s e s i n c a t t l e b y g e n e e d i t i n g T h e e d i t e d c a l f a l s o re p re s e n t s a n o t h e r p o t e n t i a l o p p o rt u n i t y t o l e s s e n t h e n e e d f o r a n t i b i o t i c s i n a g r i c u l t u re s i n c e B V D V i n f e c t i o n a l s o puts calves at risk for secondar y bacterial d i s e a s e s T h i s p ro m i s i n g t r a i t i s s t i l l i n t h e re s e a rc h p h a s e a n d n o a s s o c i a t e d b e e f i s e n t e r i n g t h e U S f o o d s u p p l y a t t h i s t i m e G N ric acid to make the dressings more shelf stable Maroon would have none of that

“I fired the co-packer ”

At one point, a co-packer suggested using garlic puree instead of whole clove garlic

“I drove them crazy, ” Maroon said with a laugh “They said it was harder working with the garlic cloves than with the garlic all blended up But real garlic cloves taste completely different Garlic puree doesn’t taste like Mom’s dressing ”

She was just as insistent to use olive oil

“I want that smell of pepperiness,” she said

For the bottle design and label, Maroon turned to an artist friend, Inslee Fariss

“It’s satisfying to hold and it looks good on the table,” Maroon said with pride “It’s not something you plop down and you don’t feel the need to put it in an extra jar

“In Whole Foods, we got great placement,” she said “It’s at eye level and it pops out, with the sleekness of the design It’s a work of art ”

While Dress It Up’s price point is more than most commercial salad dressings, consumers will appreciate the value, Maroon said

“There’s so much water in most salad dressings,” she said “Our bottles are more expensive, but per ser ving, they’re the same value because you use less

“When I’ve communicated with customers, they’ve responded that they come back a second time because it’s more worth it to them to have the quality

“By investing in ingredients, we ’ re investing in good health,” Maroon said “We take that seriously ” G N