July 19, 2018

Gates Foundation funds livestock breeding technology project
 

The University of Maryland College of Agriculture & Natural Resources announced that it has received a US$1.3 million grant from the Gates Foundation. 

The grant, meant for researching and developing new cutting-edge precision breeding technologies for livestock, will specifically focus on cattle and goats.

Due to major climate change everywhere around the world, animals must cope with heat stress, which is affecting animal welfare as well as overall production the announcement added. Thus, it has become increasingly urgent to develop more efficient and responsive agricultural practices and breeding techniques.

Working on expanding the scope of current breeding programmes by establishing an accelerated pathway for the introduction of traits that improve heat tolerance and increase milk yield is a team led by Dr. Bhanu Telugu, Associate Professor, University of Maryland from the department of animal and avian sciences.

"Genetic modification in livestock by humans is not a new concept. When two animals of perceived high genetic merit are bred, it leads to mixing of the genomes. This has been the backbone of genetic diversity (and evolution) and generation of unique breeds, from livestock to pets," Telugu explained.

The university also shared that modern breeding techniques have already come a long way in increasing production, with research including the genetic makeup of animals to select and breed for beneficial traits.

Over the last five decades, milk production from dairy animals in the US was doubled by following traditional breeding paradigms and better management practices.

However, each time when two animals are bred for a specific trait, the genetic merit is diluted, just like mixing blue and yellow to make green. Each offspring has a little less of the desired trait. Telugu further clarified:

"So, in order to really incorporate one new trait into a population, many generations of breeding were traditionally needed, which can take about 15 to 30 years, depending on species."

Today, with avant-garde technologies such as CRISPR/Cas, which enable easy gene editing, Telugu shared that he is looking into genetic fragments that are linked to specific desirable traits and how those traits can be inputted into a population in just a single generation of breeding, taking only three years instead of 30.

"If we have genetic scissors and we know where to cut, then cutting and pasting the best traits into a new animal is probably the most efficient way to incorporate a new trait," Telugu said.

"With this work, we are not only validating the genetic research that tells us which sections matter for which specific traits but it also looks into solving serious issues that otherwise could not be addressed," he added.

Telugu shared his excitement to begin the research and development project. He analysed, "Heat stress has become a serious issue in the US over the last decade or so. That is how quickly these problems are growing and evolving. Combine that with new emerging diseases and the need to feed three billion more people over the next 30 years, we will be facing serious issues that traditional methods will no longer be a solution."

"I am excited to be able to work on these important applications and still contribute to the greater knowledge of functional genomics, which is my focus as a researcher," Telugu enthused.