12/01/05 DNA technology

DNA Technology Beef cattle improvement has recently taken another giant step forward. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll give you more details right after this. One of the committee meetings at the Washington Cattlemen's Association annual meeting held November 10th-12th featured a discussion of new DNA technologies by Dr. Jim Gibb with Merial. Dr. Gibb related that genetic testing grouped under the IGENITY trademark can test for carcass quality, tenderness, homozygous black color in cattle, and can verify parentage. Genetic testing is a large step forward in beef cattle improvement since it is a tool to select for traits not as easily measured, such as tenderness of meat. Beef tenderness is a huge economic factor since consumers will pay for consistently tender beef. It is estimated that a ten percent improvement in tenderness equates to a one percent market improvement which could add $150 to $170 million to total beef sales. It was interesting to review the progression of beef cattle improvement Dr. Gibb presented. Early improvements to cattle were made by strictly visual judging for correct structure, then pedigrees were used to record the heritage of these preferred individuals. Performance testing and estimated progeny difference were used next to measure and predict essential economic traits. Now genetic testing has been added to further enhance the estimated progeny differences. That's quite an advancement in a relatively short number of years. I'm Jeff Keane.