Rapid CRISPR/Cas9 editing of genotype IX African swine fever virus circulating in eastern and central Africa

African swine fever virus is the aetiological agent of a contagious and fatal disease of domestic pigs that has significant economic consequences for the global swine industry.

Due to the lack of effective treatment and vaccines against African swine fever, there is an urgent need to leverage cutting-edge technologies and cost-effective approaches for generating and purifying recombinant virus to fast-track the development of live-attenuated African swine fever virus vaccines.

This research article describes the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and a cost-effective cloning system to produce recombinant African swine fever virus in low-resourced laboratories in developing countries.

Photo credit: Local pigs in Tay Nguyen, Vietnam (ILRI/Fred Unger)