Scientists in Africa explore use of surrogate sires to improve small ruminant breeds

In Pullman, Washington, the director and reproductive biologist at the Center for Reproductive Biology, Jon Oatley, and his team have generated a gene-edited goat, known as surrogate sire—a goat that is capable of ‘hosting’ sperm from a different buck. Oatley believes that this technology is the key to unlocking the growing demand for food and nutritional security and has paired up with scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the University of Nairobi to apply the technology in Africa.

‘Small ruminants especially, but also cattle, still rely on natural mating because the alternatives are cumbersome and unreliable, but that means that you have little choice about the genetics you use for the next generation –“surrogate sire systems” change that.’ Steve Kemp, leader of ILRI’s genetics research program.