A U of G innovation may soon mean that pigs will produce much less pollution

Written by Aldis Brennan

It has been a long-standing folk tale that pigs are dirty animals and live in their own filth. But of lately people are becoming more familiar with the interpretation that pigs are in fact very clean animals.
The Enviropig, a genetically modified line of Yorkshire pig that is currently being developed at the University of Guelph, is putting the final nail in the coffin of this myth.

This enhanced pig is capable of digesting plant phosphorous more efficiently than conventional Yorkshire pigs. It does this by producing an enzyme called ‘phytase’ in its saliva, actively working to degrade indigestible ‘phytate’ contained in the grain that they eat. This reduces the amount of phosphorous in the pig’s manure by 30 to 70 per cent, depending upon age and diet.

So great, the Enviropig produces less phosphorous manure, but what does this mean and how does that make this pig cleaner?

Photo by Cecil Forsberg

The phosphorous released in the manure of the average pig is an excellent fertilizer but too much phosphorous in one area can contaminate the soil. When significant amounts of the phosphorous saturated soil reach bodies of water, they become polluted. The phosphorous in the water can stimulate algae growth that lowers the oxygen content of the water, kills fish and can make the water unsafe to drink.

If environmental sustainability is not a convincing enough reason to adopt the Enviropig, then perhaps the economic benefits are. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) have been aware of the problem of phosphorous pollution and to combat it they have relied heavily on expensive phytase dietary supplements in order to reduce the amount of phosphorous in the manure. The Enviropig reduces this cost by being able to produce phytase itself.

As with any genetically modified organism, there are of course potential concerns such as whether the modified animal’s welfare is compromised and if they are safe for human consumption. The Enviropig website states that all of their animal experiments have been conducted following the guidelines set out by the Canadian Council of Animal Care, and also that in order to produce pigs meant for commercial use they would have to be healthy.

The lead scientist for the Enviropig project, University of Guelph professor Cecil Forsberg, said that “the real issues at this point are the social and ethical concerns…[but] we have produced a pig which can digest phytate, making it a fit animal. [Some people are] against the use of genes from one species in another because it compromises their purity.”

Whether the Enviropig is safe for human’s to eat remains to be determined by the Canadian regulatory authorities such as Health Canada.

This project, which began at the university in 1997, has come a long way and is finally at the stage where it has begun to ask for approval from national and international regulatory bodies. Forsberg explained that it is too early to tell when the pig will be made available to the public, but added that all applications have been submitted.

“[This is the] first transgenic animal to go through this sort of regulatory review,” said Forsberg.
At this point, barring any unforeseen obstacles, it seems that the Enviropig may soon be reaching supermarkets around the world where it may also have the benefit of making people feel a bit better about eating bacon.