Modification of performance traits, Biology

Assignment Help:

Modification of performance traits

Modifications to livestock that could influence traits such as growth rate, feed efficiency and meat quality are major goals for livestock breeding in agriculture. Mice in which the myostatin gene has been knocked out have considerably more skeletal muscle than wild type controls. The double-muscle phenotype of some breeds of cattle is caused by natural mutations of this gene and these are widely bred in Europe for improved meat quality. Knockout of this gene in sheep or pigs could produce animals with increased skeletal muscle mass and improved meat quality, although there are clearly major ethical issues relating to animal welfare that would have to be considered if these types of animal were generated.

Other areas of transgenic applications in animal agriculture include modifying milk composition to increase milk proteins, to decrease milk fat or to change milk composition to provide a source of milk for lactose-intolerant individuals or to provide a source of milk that is more efficiently processed into cheese. An area that definitely needs more exploration is the use of the chicken oviduct as a bioreactor. This approach has numerous advantages over the transgenic mammary gland. To name a few, the ease of collecting the product, short generation times, quantity, safety and low costs are unmatched by the traditional approach of transgenic milk. However, this system is still in its infancy because micromanipulation of the chicken embryo is very difficult, and transgenic chickens are often mosaics. It is also possible that the best protein expression levels will be obtained when multiple copies of transgene integrate into a particular favourable chromosomal locus. Cloning will greatly reduce timeliness to get therapeutic products to the market by producing large number of genetically identical transgenic livestock animals in the first generation.


Related Discussions:- Modification of performance traits

What is the karyotype found in down syndrome, What is the karyotype found i...

What is the karyotype found in Down syndrome? Down syndrome is the aneuploidy that is a numeric alteration of chromosomes within the cells compared to the normal number of chro

Determine the function of osseointegration, Determine the function of Osseo...

Determine the function of Osseointegration Osseointegration is also a measure of implant stability, which occurs at two stages- primary and secondary. Primary stability has be

What are mutagenic agents, What are mutagenic agents? The Mutagenic age...

What are mutagenic agents? The Mutagenic agents, or mutagens, are physical, chemical or biological factors that can cause alteration in DNA molecules. Instances of believed

Energy flow in an eco-systems, The capacity to do work is known as energy. ...

The capacity to do work is known as energy. In an ecosystem energy flows through one organism to another in the form of food. The flow of energy is uni-direction and non cycle and

What are the techniques of pumonary embolism operations, What are the techn...

What are the techniques of pumonary embolism operations ? Technique of Operation :  Patients who are very unstable will have to be put on bypass by cannulation of femoral art

Explain the digestibility coefficient - proteins, Explain the Digestibility...

Explain the Digestibility Coefficient? You have earlier learnt that dietary proteins are hydrolyzed to amino acids during digestion. The digestion begins in the stomach by the

Determine guidelines for planning balanced diets for elderly, Determine Gui...

Determine Guidelines for Planning Balanced Diets for Elderly? The key element in planning diets for the elderly should be nutrient-based dietary guidelines, in order to reduce

The wall of left ventricle of an infants heart, Because of developmental ab...

Because of developmental abnormality, the wall of left ventricle of an infant's heart is as thin as that of right ventricle. What would be its explicit effect on circulation of blo

Grouping of stem cells-totipotent scs, Grouping of Stem Cells: The rang...

Grouping of Stem Cells: The range of differentiation “Potency” is an important property of Stem cells & serves as the basis for classifying cells as : Totipotent SCs -capa

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd