This week, the a research partnership comprised of Watershed AC, Evogene, and Ben-Gurion University announced they have successfully produced the first gene-edited giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) using CRISPR technology. According to the announcement, this breakthrough represents the culmination of a year-long collaboration to enhance key crustacean traits, including growth rate, disease resistance, and environmental adaptation.
The partnership between the three entities, announced in October 2023, was initially backed by a grant from the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA). The project aimed to overcome the challenges of applying gene editing to non-model organisms with limited genomic data and protocols. The focus has been on species like giant freshwater prawn, white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), and red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), which are crucial to the global aquaculture industry.
Computational biology startup Evogene said that it applied its GeneRator AI technology to the project to enable the precise design of guide RNAs (gRNAs), which were used to assist with gene editing. Evogene said that by predicting optimal gRNAs and accounting for un-annotated genomes and natural DNA variance, it increased the accuracy and efficiency of the CRISPR process.
Watershed AC, a sustainable aquaculture company, and BGU’s team, led by Prof. Amir Sagi, achieved the primary milestone of successfully editing the genome of the giant freshwater prawn. The key trait selected for modification was the prawn’s eye color, which was altered in the post-larvae stage, demonstrating the effectiveness of the gene-editing process.
With the successful creation of a gene-edited prawn, the IIA has green-lit funding for the second year of the collaboration, which will explore scaling up the CRISPR technology for industrial applications and expanding its use to other commercially valuable crustacean species like white-leg shrimp and red swamp crayfish.
Growing populations and increasing environmental concerns have increased the focus on developing more sustainable aquaculture solutions. Gene-editing can be used to improve key traits such as growth rate, disease resistance, and environmental adaptation in crustaceans. The global shrimp market, valued at $40.35 billion in 2023, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.09% between 2024 and 2032. Similarly, according to industry reports, the crayfish market is expected to grow at a staggering CAGR of 31.5% during the same period.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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