"There are thirty pigs in total. They are all sows. They are easy to raise. When the sows grow up, you can breed them by yourself or buy high-quality pig essence for breeding."
"These piglets are very healthy, their tails swing strongly, their fur is shiny, and their skin is white and pink. They are all very beautiful."
After Xie Hui inspected the piglets that had just arrived in the pig house, he looked at these pink and cute little animals with a smile on his face.
It can be seen that he really loves animals. His eyes light up when he sees the piglets, and the joy on his face comes from the bottom of his heart and is inexplicably contagious.
At this time, another little piglet was brought in.
"Huh?" Xie Hui looked at the piglet and exclaimed.
"Why is this pig so weird? It's so different from other pigs."
He quickly stepped forward and carefully looked at the piglet in front of him, with an expression of surprise and confusion on his face.
"This is a boar. It's a bit bigger than an ordinary piglet. It's thicker and has thicker limbs. Its neck, buttocks, and thighs are all bulging. It looks very powerful."
Xie Hui couldn't help but stretched out his hand and gently pressed a few times on the bulging part of Piggy's body.
It feels elastic and strong, with not much fat under the skin, but solid muscles.
The ribs on the abdomen can no longer be touched and are wrapped by a layer of muscle.
The belly was slightly swollen, but there was no soft feeling of fat when touched. Instead, a thin layer of muscle could be felt.
"This is strange. I have never seen such a pig before. Could it be that this is the so-called genetically modified pig?"
Xie Hui murmured to himself, and a thought flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, there was a burst of chuckles from behind, and someone said: "Yes, this is a genetically modified pig. We usually call it the devil muscle pig."
Xie Hui turned around suddenly and saw a young man carrying a backpack standing behind him.
This young man is a bit thin, less than 170cm tall. He is dressed plainly and looks very plain, but his eyes are bright and lively. No matter who he looks at, he always has a sincere smile on his face, which makes people feel good about him.
"I am Huang Qin. I am responsible for the genetic research of animals and plants in Sanqing. You must be Xie Hui, the top student at the Agricultural University. I'm glad to meet you." Huang Qin stepped forward and said with a smile.
"Don't dare, don't dare, you are the top students who are doing research in Sanqing. I have heard about gene editing technology from the teacher at school, and I have also seen some genetically modified animals in cooperation with Sanqing at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. This is also the case. The results of your research.”
Xie Hui said excitedly, his eyes full of curiosity.
"Haha, yes, we used targeted gene knockout technology to knock out the muscle growth inhibitory gene in pigs and obtained the modified gene. Then we implanted it into the embryonic cells of a female pig, and finally this A female pig gave birth to 30 piglets, and they all lacked myostatin."
"However, their survival rate is really poor compared to normal pigs. Only 13 of the 30 piglets survived, and only half of them were relatively healthy. This one is one of them."
Having said this, Huang Qin showed an expression of relief on his face, patted Xie Hui on the shoulder and said: "Brother, I've been waiting for you. When it comes to raising pigs, this is really a technical job, and I can't do it. , I will count on you from now on.”
"This kind of muscle pig is a cooperative project with Muyuan Group. Fortunately, we are only responsible for gene editing. They are responsible for the subsequent production and feeding. Otherwise, none of them would survive."
Xie Hui smiled and said nothing, but he couldn't help but feel a little proud in his heart.
Huang Qin introduced it eloquently.
"Actually, we are not the first to create this type of muscle pig. There are similar projects abroad, but the survival rate is not high."
"You must have noticed that it has a lot more muscles than ordinary domestic pigs. The most prominent parts are the back, buttocks and limbs. This piglet is still small, so it is not very obvious. When it grows up, these The muscles in certain places will become very scary, which is why it is called the devil's muscle pig."
As he spoke, he took out his mobile phone and showed Xie Hui some photos of muscle pigs when they grew up. These are the results of foreign research institutions.
Sure enough, the adult muscle pig in the picture has a high bulge on the back, unusually thick buttocks and limbs, showing muscle lines, like a mutated monster, which looks a bit scary.
"This is the Schwarzenegger of pigs. The meat is very punchable, but don't be intimidated by their appearance. We only performed simple gene editing and did not transplant genetic information from other organisms into the pig's body. In fact, it is very It’s safe and delicious.”
"The reason why its muscles can grow so big is because there is no myostatin in the body. Generally, mammals have this factor in their bodies, so the skeletal muscles will not grow indefinitely. Without it, the animal's skeletal muscles will be excessive. develop and become abnormally thick.”
"So from a scientific point of view, if a person lacks this factor, the muscles in the body will lose control and become a muscular man like the Hulk. Of course, it is not that exaggerated."
Xie Hui nodded: "I probably understand. It's really amazing, but why is the survival rate of piglets so low?"
"The genetically modified piglets will grow very large when they develop in the mother's body, but the birth canal of the female pig cannot expand infinitely, so it is easy to cause dystocia."
Xie Hui said doubtfully: "If it is difficult to give birth, just have a caesarean section. It should improve the survival rate."
Huang Qin scratched his forehead and said with some embarrassment: "I didn't expect this at the beginning, but I will have experience in the future."
He coughed slightly, changed the subject, and said.
"In addition, the piglets that survived also had varying degrees of congenital diseases, such as cardiac hypertrophy, tongue hypertrophy, or lung problems. In addition, skeletal muscles grew too large, which also put pressure on bones and joints. , there will be problems like this over time.”
Xie Hui was stunned for a moment and said, "Then it's not easy to make a living."
Huang Qin chuckled: "Brother, this is all up to you."
"Actually, I conduct genetic research on domestic pigs to understand the genes that control organ development in their bodies, and to see what impact these genes will have on their internal organs after they are edited or changed."
"Myostatin, like this one, will have a negative impact on heart development. If the pig's heart is to develop normally, it cannot be moved."
"Don't worry about the survival rate. It can be improved slowly. Look at those 30 sows, which look ordinary on the outside. In fact, they have been genetically modified, but they have been modified with disease-resistant genes, so they are so healthy and lively."
"We now want to see if crossing these muscular pigs with disease-resistant pigs can naturally produce a batch of pigs that can grow a lot of muscles. One is to increase meat production and see if this characteristic can stabilize genetics and Optimize and breed excellent pig breeds.”
"The other is to see if there will be any problems after genetic modification and if there are any solutions."
"In fact, there are similar products in nature. There is a kind of devil's tendon beef. It is the product of natural genetic mutation. It has been served on the human table and has become an expensive delicacy."
"This kind of muscle beef has good quality, high meat yield, fast growth, and is very delicious, but it also has the problem of low survival rate, so it has not been promoted to the world."
"So we wanted to modify it in domestic pigs and see if we could create a better breed."
Xie Hui agreed: "What a great study. If the meat production of domestic pigs can be greatly increased and the growth rate can be accelerated, it will definitely produce huge economic benefits, and the price of pork can also be greatly reduced. People will no longer worry about pork." It’s no longer a problem that we can’t afford the price increase.”
"However," he thought for a while and asked cautiously: "Can such pork be accepted by everyone? If ordinary people see such a muscular pig, will they think it is a monster?"
He thought to himself, if his parents saw the devil's muscle pig, they would probably think that the whole body was full of hormones, and they would definitely worry about whether they would get sick after eating it.
Huang Qin said with a meaningful smile: "This depends on the marketing method. As the saying goes, consumers need to be educated and trained."
"Don't think so much. Eighty percent of the pork will not be eaten by outsiders. This pig farm is not big. It is enough to raise two to three hundred pigs. At most, it will be sold to canteens, which is not enough for everyone to digest internally. .”
Xie Hui was surprised: "This pig is not for sale?"
"You don't know, actually, this organic farm was originally built by Mr. Wei for his family. Later, he just engaged in scientific research and produced various delicacies as an internal benefit for everyone. We have many such genetically modified vegetables in our cafeteria. The fruits and melons are all very delicious.”
"Now the country is very supportive of genetically modified crops and has relaxed some controls. Genetically modified animals and plants will be a new outlet full of opportunities. The Academy of Agricultural Sciences and many companies are engaged in this business, and they want to develop high-yielding and delicious products. new varieties.”
"It's just that agriculture is relatively popular, with hundreds of flowers blooming. Many new varieties are on sale in the market. You can go to some high-end supermarkets and you should be able to buy them."
"In the animal husbandry industry, there are also some excellent research results, but they have not yet been officially introduced to the market."
"However, those companies focus on output. We pay more attention to quality, pursuing green, organic, pollution-free, and no additives. At the same time, we must use various high-tech methods, whether it is automated breeding or genetic modification. .”
"Technology and hard work can all be used. This is the real future of agriculture."
Hearing these words, Xie Hui looked fascinated and his heart was full of passion. He suddenly blurted out: "This is also the agriculture I want."
He suddenly lowered his head and looked at his feet. In his eyes, the short, fat little piglet turned into a bright red, moist and plump pork chop, which was being grilled sizzlingly on the charcoal fire.
"I don't know how delicious it is. I really want to try it."
Xie Hui couldn't help but licked his lips, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and felt itchy in his heart, as if there were ants crawling around.
Huang Qin saw his expression in his eyes and said proudly: "How about it? You are greedy. I know it. You can just wait for the pigs to come out. You will definitely have your share of the meat."
Suddenly his cell phone rang, he took a look and immediately said: "Let's go, don't hang around here, there are chickens over there waiting for you to receive."
Xie Hui was surprised: "The chickens are here too? Are they also genetically modified?"
Huang Qin walked out and said, "Yes, there are about 100 of them, all genetically modified."
The two came to the chicken shed and saw workers transporting chickens inside.
The yellow chick is packed in a cardboard box and makes a crisp chirping sound. It is so furry and cute.
"These are 50 white-feathered chickens. They are all disease-resistant and food-saving varieties and can resist diseases such as bird flu."
"There are 50 three-yellow chickens. We modified them ourselves. We edited the genes that control chicken growth. We mainly want to see if we can increase their growth rate."
Huang Qin explained while counting the chickens in the box.
"At first we bought a few chickens, both roosters and hens, and then gene-edited the rooster's sperm and sent it into the hens, and laid some gene-edited eggs. After hatching, these chickens were born."
"This is the first time we have studied this kind of chicken. We still don't know what the subsequent growth will be. If you find any problems, please tell me at any time."
Xie Hui nodded, took the chickens out of the box and placed them in different grids.
As soon as the little chicken came out, it walked around on the ground a few times and screamed louder.
Huang Qin frowned and said, "Why does this chicken keep croaking? Nothing is wrong."
Xie Hui chuckled and said, "The chickens are hungry and clamoring for food."
He turned around and took out the feed that had been prepared long ago from the corner. It was a paste made from cornmeal and millet soaked in water until soft. Some protein powder and chopped green vegetables were also added to it.
As soon as they fell into the feed trough, the chickens fell silent and no longer screamed loudly. Instead, they turned into dry rice chickens one by one and started eating.
Huang Qin also fell silent. After a while, he gave a thumbs up and praised: "As expected of a professional. If it were me who raised them, I estimate that these chickens would not survive more than three days."
Xie Hui smiled shyly: "There are specialties in the field of medicine. You are good at research, and I can't compare. Besides, I have raised chickens at home since I was a child and have been helping to feed them. I am very familiar with these tasks."
Huang Qin nodded, silently took out a brown paper box from his backpack and handed it over.
"What is this?" Xie Hui took it and shook it. It felt heavy and heavy, and his head was filled with questions.
Huang Qin smiled mysteriously: "It's a good thing, you'll know when you open it and take a look."
"Wait a minute, I'm going to wash my hands."
Xie Hui washed his hands and ran back. He opened the carton and saw a bag of dark red rice inside.
The grains of rice are distinct, just like blood jade seeds, with a layer of red secretion oozing from the inside out, as if it has been soaked in blood.
Xie Hui was stunned and couldn't believe his eyes for a moment: "This, is this rice or something?"
"This is lycopene rice. Because it looks like it has been soaked in blood, we call it blood rice."
Huang Qin put away the smile on his face, his expression became serious, and said.
"Have you heard of golden rice? It is a kind of golden rice obtained by transferring the carotene converting enzyme system into the rice endosperm through genetically modified technology. It is rich in carotene and vitamin A. Eating it can treat vitamin A. Deficiency disorder.”
"This is an extraordinary application of genetically modified technology in crops. From then on, a bizarre world completely opened up."
"The same goes for blood rice. Through gene editing technology, new gene coding is inserted into rice, which can regulate the synthesis of lycopene protein in the endosperm, making rice rich in lycopene."
"Rice? Lycopene?" Xie Hui was stunned for a moment, but still didn't react.
"Yes, lycopene is the strongest known antioxidant. The human body cannot synthesize it and can only be absorbed through diet."
Huang Qin said leisurely: "But just eating tomatoes is of no use, because lycopene is not soluble in water and is difficult to digest and absorb in the human body."
"After lycopene is combined with the protein in blood rice, it can be dissolved in water and easily absorbed by the body."
"This is our latest research result. If it spreads, it will definitely trigger a red craze."
"Because blood rice has very powerful health care functions. Eating it can not only resist oxidation and enhance the body's immunity, but also lower blood lipids, prevent and treat coronary heart disease, and even fight cancer."
"Anti-cancer? Lower blood lipids? Antioxidant?"
Xie Hui immediately remembered that his father was old, had poor health, had a heart attack and high blood pressure, smoked a lot, often coughed, and had some liver problems. In short, this was not good and that was not good.
His eyes suddenly widened, and he hugged the carton tightly in his arms for fear of being snatched away.
Huang Qin laughed when he saw this: "Good brother, a little greeting gift, as long as you like it."
After speaking, he patted his backpack and whispered: "Brother, I have a lot of good things here. I wish us a happy cooperation in the future."
Xie Hui licked his lips, nodded wildly, and finally choked out a sentence.
"Brother Huang, from now on, you are my biological brother."
(End of chapter)
