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Recommended: Pollution marine ecosystem effects

The unprecedented and environmentally friendly Enviropigs from the University of Guelph is beneficial to society due to its modified genes that allow them to produce 30 to 65 percent less phosphorus in their manure, thus reducing the amount of major pollution in the ocean. In addition, Enviropigs better improve the lives of farmers who cannot afford to purchase pig feed with pure phosphorus and also increase the field of consuming transgenic food. The Enviropig, a transgenic Yorkshire pig, was initiated by Dr. Cecil Forsberg, a professor at the University of Guelph, who believed that Enviropigs could improve food production. “When transgenic food animals are accepted by consumers, the Enviropig perhaps would be one of the first innovations to be introduced into swine production,” said Dr Forsberg. “We have demonstrated that the gene can be transferred by breeding through many generations in a stable fashion. Furthermore, the pigs are healthy.” These Enviropigs have altered salivary glands which permits them to consume the phosphorus in feed stuff and reduce the amount of phosphorus they exhaust to prevent destroying the algae in oceans, consequently creating ‘dead zones’.
There are various reasons as to why Enviropigs are beneficial and valuable to society, one of the most prominent reasons being it decreases the deaths of marine wildlife and oxygen pollution. Phosphorus, the chemical which pig cells need to make DNA, build cell membranes and transport and generate energy, is a major cause to the marine wildlife deaths. In the manure of a normal pig, there is a high concentration of phosphorus, which can lead to oxygen “dead zones”, if the waste washes into the ocean. A low concentration of phosphorus is key to clean water. Envi...

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...b. 10 Jan. 2014.

Ontario Pork: http://www.ontariopork.on.ca/Research/Enviropig.aspx
"Enviropig." Ontario Pork. Ontario Pork, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.

MacLeans: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2012/06/22/university-of-guelph-culls-enviropigs/
"University of Guelph Culls Last Enviropigs." Macleans On Campus. Macleans University, 22 June 2012. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.

Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307124802.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
"Scientists Improve Transgenic 'Enviropigs'" ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 07 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.

The Pig Site: http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/32543/scientists-improve-transgenic-enviropigs
"Scientists Improve Transgenic Enviropigs - The Pig Site." The Pig Site. N.p., 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.

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