Scientists from the China Institute of Fisheries Science and the Heilongjiang Fisheries Research Institute have breakthrough in breeding theory and technique after creating the world’s first carp fish There is no intermuscular bone (scapula).
The fish was created by gene editing and, according to the institute and a report from China Daily, settles a 50-year-old debate over whether intermuscular bones can be regenerated. The researchers focused on the carp, a bony freshwater fish farmed throughout Eastern Europe and Asia. Although this species is a popular aquaculture product, the bones between its small muscles make it difficult to eat and process on a large scale. Leveraging gene editing to remove bone between muscles could make fish more competitive and offer more commercial opportunities, according to an analysis in China Daily .
A team at the Heilongjiang Fisheries Research Institute embarked on the project in 2009 and identified a key gene that regulates the development of the backbone between the muscles of the carp – bmp6. The biologists were able to successfully knock out this gene without seeing a negative impact on fish reproduction and growth levels.
“In 2020, we have successfully raised the first generation of carp without intercalated carp with a success rate of 12.96%. The second generation in 2021 has a success rate of 19%.” Kuang Youyi, a researcher in the group said. “In early 2022, we stocked about 20,000 third-generation fish at our test facility in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, and started large-scale breeding.