Researchers Present Three-pronged Strategy to Drive Genetic Improvement of Cattle

Experts from the University of California, Davis tackled the synergistic power of genomic selection, assisted reproductive technologies, and gene editing to advance cattle improvement in a review article published in CABI Agriculture and Bioscience.

The authors, Drs. Maci L. Mueller and Alison L. Van Eenennaam, presented the summary of the present status of key reproductive and molecular biotechnologies available for the genetic improvement of cattle. They also outlined the potential strategies for effectively incorporating gene editing into cattle genetic improvement programs and methods for disseminating traits improved via gene editing.

It was stressed that gene editing offers promising opportunities to knockout or knock-in genes and achieve intraspecies allele introgression in the absence of undesired linkage drag. Gene editing must be integrated smoothly into existing cattle breeding programs.

Read the review paper in CABI Agriculture and Bioscience.