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AUS – GM LIVESTOCK: USEFUL OR NOT?
Genetically Engineering Livestock - Useful or Not?
5 October 2006, Ref 06/196
Two views about the future of genetic engineering (GE) and its role in improving livestock production tool for improving livestock production will be presented at next week's CSIRO Horizons in Livestock Sciences conference on the Gold Coast.
According to Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, Agustin Blasco, while GE undoubtedly has an exciting and challenging future, it remains to be seen whether it will have a major influence in improving livestock production.
Professor Blasco's address will cover how the world cautiously expected the then new GE technology to produce a wide variety of applications in the fields of medicine and food production.
"However, genetic engineering has not fulfilled those early expectations," he says.
Professor Blasco says he believes there are several major reasons why GE did not enjoy the major success anticipated for it as a livestock breeding tool. He will particularly focus on the use of cloning to improve livestock genetics.
"Unfortunately, most traits relevant to improving livestock production are largely controlled by the environment and not by the genes," he says. "Thus the observed productivity of a single animal is probably due to environmental rather than genetic effects and there is a high risk that cloned animals will be much less productive than the original animal."
Another view will be presented by Professor in Animal Genetics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Leif Andersson.
"So far, the genomics revolution has given us detailed genetic marker maps, near complete genome sequences of many species and the successful identification of mutations that may be beneficial or may need to be purged," Professor Andersson says.
"However, while the impact of the genomics revolution on the farm has so far been limited, we have all the reasons to believe that the impact will continue to grow.
"The reasons for this optimism are the rapid technology development in the field and the fact that we continuously learn more and more about gene function and how biological process is controlled," he says.
The Horizons in Livestock Sciences Conference will be held at the Gold
Coast International Hotel, Queensland, from Sunday 8 October until
Wednesday 11 October 2006. The conference is sponsored by Meat and
Livestock Australia, Pfizer Animal Health, and supported by ICM
Agribusiness and the QLD Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
Further Information:
Lisa Palu, CSIRO Livestock Industries
0419 663 404, Lisa.Palu@csiro.au
Media Assistance:
Rob Nethery, CSIRO Livestock Industries
0427 701 389, Rob.Nethery@csiro.au
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