Veterinary scientists are trying to find ways to ensure the native breeds survive the changing climatic patterns. At a workshop in Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Science University recently, the concern over the impact of climate change on livestock in the country took centre stage.
Tanuvas Vice-Chancellor C. Balachandran, who inaugurated the workshop on ‘livestock gene editing’ organised jointly with Washington State University, said with the global population set to rise to 9.3 billion, there was a need to find ways to improve production of meat and milk.
“This can be achieved by gene mapping, sequencing, analysing DNA. Gene editing has promising application in animal breeding programmes,” he said.
Research had established that editing a few casual variants of genes could double the rate of short and long term genetic gain, he said. While gene editing was required, he cautioned that indigenous breeds must be conserved.
Animal Husbandry Secretary K. Gopal said researchers should be aware of the implications of gene editing while exploring animal production and disease resistance. Bryan K. Slinker, dean, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, said the focus is on accelerating disease-resistant livestock.
According to him, it is better to develop disease-resistant livestock rather than considering vaccination strategies. The university has expertise in stem cell, reproductive and cloning, he added.
