CRISPR genome editing has been used to create a cow with grey patches instead of black, meaning it will absorb less heat. The aim is to reduce heat stress in the animals due to global warming – which, ironically, is in no small part due to emissions and deforestation from cattle ranching.

“Genome editing is a promising approach to rapidly improve and adapt livestock to changing environmental conditions,” says Goetz Laible at AgResearch in New Zealand. “On a global scale, even modest improvements in productivity from colour-diluted cattle would translate into substantial …