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

Zoology, Phylum coelenterata

Phylum coelenterata

Developmental biology, a recent topic for my developmental biology assignm...

a recent topic for my developmental biology assignment

Explain the food digestion in protozoans, In some protozoans, food is alway...

In some protozoans, food is always ingested at the same place on cell surface, cytostome (cell mouth). Undigested food is removed at a cytoproct, or cell anus. All of this is simil

Alimentory canal, how to do assignment on alimentory canal

how to do assignment on alimentory canal

Find the temperature in different parts of the cell, A group working at the...

A group working at the University of California, Berkeley has developed "nanothermometers," little nanoparticles that can be injected into cells to measure the temperature in vario

Which statement is true of the energy levels, Which statement is true of th...

Which statement is true of the energy levels of electrons in shells? A) All the electrons in an atom have similar amounts of energy. B) Electrons must lose energy to move from the

Arterial system of mammal, ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF MAMMAL Basic plan from...

ARTERIAL SYSTEM OF MAMMAL Basic plan from origin to distribution is similar in all vertebrates as per the mode of respiration. Main anterior aorta in terrestrial forms ar

Mention chemical agents available for sterilization, Q. Mention chemical ag...

Q. Mention chemical agents available for sterilization? Various chemical agents available for sterilization are: Alcohols: ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, trichlorobuta

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