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Hub for Food Systems Communication and Engagement

Hub Research Team Reveals What Drives Interest in CRISPR-edited Pork and Takes Home Outstanding Poster Award

July 25, 2025
Katie Sanders and Joseph Opoku Gakpo with a poster

This June, Dr. Katie Sanders, Director of the Hub for Food Systems Communication and Engagement, and Dr. Joseph Opoku Gakpo, Hub collaborator, received the Outstanding Research Poster Award at the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) Conference. Sanders and Gakpo represented their research team, which includes Bhavisha Gulabrai, Hub Graduate Research Assistant, Joe Proudman and Dr. Frank Mitloehner at the UC Davis CLEAR Center and Dr. Jean Parrella at Virginia Tech, and showcased emerging research about consumer perceptions of CRISPR-edited pork products.

CRISPR, short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, are naturally occurring genetic tools that can more accurately change an organism’s DNA by targeting a specific gene compared to other forms of genetic modification. Sanders and team conducted a nationwide survey to explore consumer perceptions of CRISPR-edited pork products. Study findings indicated respondents were more likely to say they would buy CRISPR-edited pork when they had greater trust in academic researchers and the pork industry, felt that science was important and valued processes like the scientific method, and did not feel CRISPR technology was tampering with nature. The study suggests that future communication efforts should focus on building trust in scientists and the pork industry while explaining the benefits of the technology in a simple, positive way.

This research is especially timely given the recent FDA approval of the Pig Improvement Company’s (PIC) PRRS-resistant pig.While these products aren’t yet available on grocery store shelves, rapid advancements of the technology brings the reality closer each day. 

This project was funded by the National Pork Board and is part of a larger research effort examining public opinions and information seeking habits of consumers related to CRISPR-edited pork.

To learn more about CRISPR technology in the food system, keep an eye out for an upcoming episode of The Science that Feeds Us podcast featuring Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou!

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