Tiny pigs, created by genetic editing techniques pioneered at a Chinese science centre, are to be sold as pets in the near future. The prospect has triggered a heated dispute between scientists and concern from animal welfare groups.

Some say the creation of pet micro-pigs could cause considerable pain to the animals. Others say the use of gene editing techniques would be an improvement in standard animal breeding methods and cause less suffering.

The news that the micro-pigs had been created by scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) was outlined in science journal Nature last week. According to its report, the micro-pigs were developed by applying a gene editing technology called Talens – transcription activator-like effector nucleases – to a small breed of pig known as Bama. The resulting micro-pigs weigh about 15kg when mature (many farm pigs weigh more than 100kg), roughly the same as a medium-sized dog.

Each micro-pig will be sold for 10,000 yuan, about £1,000. Customers will also be able to select the animal’s colour and coat pattern, which the BGI says can be achieved by manipulating its genetic make-up using Talens.

The animals, developed to help with stem cell experiments and other research, are to be sold to raise cash for the institute. “We plan to take orders now and see what the scale of the demand is,” said a senior BGI director, Yong Li.

But the idea has horrified animal welfare groups, and some scientists. “The idea is completely unacceptable,” Dr Penny Hawkins, head of the RSPCA’s research animals department, told the Observer. “In the past, pets have been bred by selecting animals, generation by generation, to produce a desired trait. Inducing a massive change in one go risks creating animals that suffer all sorts of horrific impairments.”

The RSPCA is concerned that the technique risks creating animals that may have long-term health and welfare problems that are difficult to predict. It is also worried that pet owners will not be able to properly care for or monitor the animals.

Hawkins added that many pet breeds, created through standard methods of selection, already suffer grim afflictions. “Pug dogs have been bred to have flat faces, but this makes it difficult for them to breath. They suffer from air hunger and many collapse. Similarly, Cavalier King Charles spaniels have been bred to have such small heads that their skulls are too small for their brains and they suffer considerable pain.

In principle, gene editing should offer a far more humane alternative to selective breeding for all domestic animals Biologist Willard Eyestone

“We have to move away from the idea that we can pick our companion animals purely because of their cuteness and size. The idea of creating micro-pigs is a very big step in the wrong direction.”

Geneticist Jens Boch at the Martin Luther University in Germany was also cautious. “It’s questionable whether we should impact the life, health and well-being of other animal species on this planet light-heartedly,” he told Nature.

However, other scientists say there is no reason not to take the idea of genetically modified pets as a serious concept. “If the micro-pig is carefully evaluated and found to be equal in health compared to a normal pig and differs only in terms of size, there would be little scientific reason to block it from being offered as a pet,” said reproductive biologist Willard Eyestone, of Virginia State University.

“The ethics of the use of gene editing for altering traits in pets should be the subject of public debate,” he added. “We must bear in mind that we have been altering the genetic make-up of pets for millennia, using the comparatively imprecise method of … selective breeding, which sometimes results in less than healthy traits for the animal.

“In principle, gene editing should offer a far more predictable and humane alternative to selective breeding for all domestic animals.”

The creation of micro-pigs is not the first use of genetic engineering technology to create pets. For a £100,000 fee, pet owners can buy clones of their beloved cats or dogs after they have died by using DNA from their remains. For example, Edgar and Nina Otto from Florida kept the DNA of their dead labrador, Sir Lancelot, in frozen storage for a year before sending it to Sooam Biotech in South Korea, which created an embryo genetically identical to Lancelot which they have called Lancelot Encore.

However, these animals were created in the hope that they could exactly recreate a much-loved pet. The micro-pig is a new breed of animal, one that has been created using gene-editing technology – and that raises new ethical issues. “The micropigs produced by gene-editing are ‘cute’ for some people,” said Max Rothschild, of Iowa State University. “But they are still pigs and require that their owners know how to raise them properly. Gene editing of livestock is considered by some as a GM product, and hence anti-GM issues may play a role in comsumer acceptance.”

A few years ago, there was a fashion to own mini-pig pets. Victoria Beckham and Paris Hilton were pictured with them. These animals were created by standard breeding methods of Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs and as they grew older frequently outgrew their owners’ homes. A genetically edited micro-pig should not suffer this problem but could easily suffer other side-effects. “More to the point, this more trivial use of gene editing takes away from its important uses to improve livestock welfare, disease resistance and productivity,” added Rothschild.