Animal production--a longstanding biotechnological success

Biotechnology has been practiced in one form or another under many banners since the beginning of the domestication of animal species. Many of the previously used tools of animal breeding have played and will continue to play an important role in the selection and propagation of desirable and economically important characteristics in livestock. From this viewpoint, animal production practices have been a long-standing biotechnological success. We now produce more animal products with fewer animals than was imagined even 10 y ago. These animal products are produced more efficiently and with less competition with humans for high-quality cereal grains. However, improvements are still needed in product composition and production efficiency, especially in growth, disease resistance, and reproduction. The attainment of such improvements will depend heavily on our ability to quantify desirable traits, to identify markers linked to gene(s) responsible for those traits, to select or redesign populations of superior individuals, and to propagate those animals.