Think Tank final webinar
EuroFAANG RI Think Tank final webinar: Gene Editing in Farmed Animals – Science, Applications and Responsible Innovation:
Gene editing is rapidly reshaping the future of animal breeding — from disease resistance and animal welfare to sustainability and resilience. With major EuroFAANG-linked projects now delivering key results, and with growing EU-level interest in precision breeding and New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), this webinar offers a valuable overview of the field.
The session brings together the latest scientific advances, explores practical applications in livestock breeding, and opens space to discuss responsible innovation, societal expectations, and future pathways.
Report Key messages
- Science is not the main bottleneck — gene-editing tools in farmed animals are technically mature. The real constraints are regulatory uncertainty, high approval costs favouring large commercial actors, and societal legitimacy
- Regulation must evolve beyond pure risk assessment — current EU frameworks rely on event-specific traceability that doesn’t work for edits indistinguishable from natural variation; the EU’s NGT plants proposal is likely to influence future animal frameworks
- Animal welfare is the most socially legitimate application — disease resistance and welfare traits lead, but long-term and cumulative effects need real monitoring, not just one-off risk assessment
- Public acceptability depends on justification, not just safety — people care who benefits, who bears the risk, and whether the technology reinforces or challenges intensive farming, not just whether it’s technically safe
- Governance needs broader voices — civil society, ethicists, and humanities scholars, not just technical experts and regulators
Overall message: the future of gene editing in European farmed animals depends less on further technical breakthroughs and more on regulatory evolution, shared infrastructure, transparent benefit articulation, and sustained public engagement.
Agenda – 21 January 2026 – 15:00-17:00 – Online (Zoom)
EuroFAANG RI Webinar: Gene Editing in Farmed Animals – Science, Applications and Responsible Innovation
Session 1 — Scientific Advances in Gene Editing for Farmed Animals
Focus:
- Overview of latest tools: CRISPR updates, base/prime editing
- Species-relevant progress: cattle, pigs, poultry, small ruminants
- A reality check on current capabilities vs. future expectations
Speakers: Simon Lillico (Roslin Institute)
Session 2 — Practical Applications: Integrating Gene Editing into Breeding and Production Systems
Focus:
- Trait development pipelines and Technical readiness levels (TRL)
- Integrating edited variants into genomic evaluations
- What breeders and farmers need for adoption
- Welfare and sustainability opportunities
Speakers: Jon Oatley (Washington State University), Anna Wargelius (IMR)
Session 3 — Responsible Innovation: Societal and Ethical and Regulatory Considerations
Focus:
- Societal acceptance: key findings from social science
- Ethical frameworks for animal gene editing
- Transparency, communication & trust
Speaker: Andy Greenfield (University of Oxford)
Session 4 – Roundtable Discussion: “Responsible Gene Editing in Europe: What Should Be Prioritised in the Next 5–10 Years?”
The webinar will close with a forward-looking roundtable discussion addressing:
▪️ Promising gene-edited traits across species
▪️ Scientific & technical barriers — and how EuroFAANG RI can help
▪️ Societal values, ethics & communication
▪️ Three concrete priorities for Europe’s future
Speakers: Elisabetta Giuffra (INRAE), Ashie Norris (MOWI), Clint Nestbitt (PIC), Andy Greenfield (University of Oxford), Jon Oatley (Washington State University), Anna Wargelius (IMR), Simon Lillico (Roslin Institute), Aleksandra Hubar-Kolodziejczyk (Uni Bayreuth and Detective), Philip Macnaghten (WUR).