§ Lord Joplingasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made, following the purchase by the Government in the mid 1980s of native pigs from China, in experimentally transferring the genes controlling the high litter rate of those pigs into European pigs. [HL2554]
§ Lord DonoughueUse of the Chinese pigs has made an invaluable contribution to understanding the genetic control of reproduction of pigs, and has also played a role in helping scientists to understand the pig genome, an area of research where the UK leads the world. The industry has taken a cautious approach to the incorporation of Chinese pig genes into commercial herds because of the poor carcass quality associated with the Chinese pigs. Research to overcome this problem is ongoing in a number of commercial pig breeding organisations.