Scientists have completed a nearly full genome assembly for an inbred domestic pig breed, significantly boosting its potential as a biomedical model to advance both human and animal health.

The Babraham pig, derived from the Large White breed and developed in the UK 50 years ago, is highly inbred and shows genetic uniformity in crucial immune-related gene complexes. This uniformity facilitates more consistent results in immunological research.

Alongside the genome assembly, researchers created a transcriptome atlas for the Babraham pig. This comprehensive dataset reveals gene expression patterns across various tissues in the pig.

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The new findings aim to enhance understanding of viral diseases affecting pigs, such as African swine fever and influenza. Additionally, the genetic uniformity of Babraham pigs may prove valuable in studying zoonotic diseases—those transmitted from animals to humans—and could be beneficial for xenotransplantation research.

Dr John Schwartz from the Pirbright Institute, which specializes in viruses in farm animals, explained: “Once we had generated the genome assembly and assessed likely sources of error, we compared uniformity across the genome with another Babraham pig.

"Gene transcription data was then used from multiple tissues to investigate gene content and usage within several immune-related gene complexes.

“This enabled us to confidently characterize and annotate genes involved in immune responses within the Babraham pig, and compare these to other genomes to gain insight into their evolution and impact on health.”

The study indicated that the high degree of inbreeding in Babraham pigs likely contributed to the quality and completeness of the genome assembly. Like humans, pigs are diploid, having two slightly different genome copies—one from each parent. In highly inbred individuals, these copies are more similar, simplifying the genome assembly process due to fewer variations.

Dr Schwartz concluded: “We believe this new genome assembly and transcriptome atlas will further enhance the utility of the Babraham pig as a biomedical model.”