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The genetic basis of Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) in pigs and tests that can be used to identify SCID pigs and SCID carriers have been established

ISU researchers previously identified and documented, for the first time, the presence of SCID in pigs. Additional research on the experimental mutant pig line developed at ISU  enabled the identification of the genomic region harboring the causative mutation. The discovery  of the mutation allowed the development of genetic tests that can be used to identify SCID pigs and SCID carriers. The identification and understanding of the genetic basis for the SCID mutation will allow further characterization of the SCID phenotype for animal disease and biomedical research, including research into the immune system, cancer research, the effects of disease, cell and tissue transplantation, and for testing of new vaccines and therapeutic agents for immuno-compromised individuals. SCID pigs provide a much better animal model for such purposes than the widely used SCID mice and, thus, development of this model could potentially be extremely useful for advancing biomedical research and drug discovery . 

This technology is related to ISURF 3992:  Immunodeficient Pigs for Biomedical Research 

• Rapid ID of SCID pigs in litters for biomedical research

• Tool for  genetic surveillance of commercial pig lines

Biomedical research