SRINAGAR: Researchers at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) here have produced India’s first gene-edited sheep, marking a historic milestone in the field of animal biotechnology.

The university has called it a “ground-breaking scientific achievement”.

The gene editing was performed using CRISPR-Cas9 technology and adhered to international biosafety protocols. The edited sheep contains no foreign DNA, distinguishing it from transgenic organisms and paving the way for regulatory approval under India’s evolving biotech policy framework.

The feat was achieved by a team of researchers led by Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST-Kashmir, Riaz Ahmad Shah after a research of around four years.

Shah’s team had previously cloned India’s first Pashmina goat – ‘Noori’ – in 2012, a milestone that garnered global acclaim. “This path-breaking development places India on the global map of advanced genome editing technologies and positions SKUAST-Kashmir at the forefront of reproductive biotechnology research,” Shah said, adding, it marks a historic milestone in the field of animal biotechnology.

He said the gene-edited lamb has been modified for the ‘myostatin’ gene – a regulator of muscle growth. “By disrupting this gene, muscle mass in the animal is enhanced by nearly 30%, a trait naturally absent in Indian sheep breeds but known in select European breeds like the Texel.

This comes on the heels of the recent release of India’s first gene-edited rice variety.