Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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breakthroughs in quick freezing of biological materials
for long-term storage and sustained viability
The development of a new and unique freezing technology that freezes materials
with little or no ice crystal formation has valuable application in the preservation of
biological entities and meat products. Semen, embryos, and animal tissues have been
frozen and thawed with excellent viability. This technology offers the promise for
wide application in biology and agriculture, including genetic improvement, health,
and food storage and distribution. Freezing of meat with later thawing as if “fresh”
has implications for storage and distribution of animal source foods.
breakthroughs in eliminating Pathogenic microorganisms
from meat and other food Products
New technologies for reduction or elimination of the pathogenic microorganisms
often contaminating meat are being developed. Such innovations include specific
wash procedures at the time of meat harvest and, more recently, the targeted use of
selected strains of
Lactobacillus
bacteria that outcompete the pathogens, allowing
for safer meat products. The bacteria are fed to cattle preharvest and are incorpo-
rated into ground meat products. The system is efficacious and is approved for use by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition, withdrawal of ruminants from
high-grain diets and use of high-forage diets for a period before slaughter similarly
reduces
Escherichia coli
O157 populations. This type of food safety intervention
promises to have other important applications in the food industry.
biotechnology
Broadly defined,
biotechnology
includes any technique that uses living organisms or
processes to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals, or to develop micro-
organisms for specific purposes. The field has created new opportunities in agriculture
and medical science. Much of this new knowledge is being applied as it emerges.
Artiicial Insemination
One of the earliest uses of biotechnology was artificial insemination (AI) in livestock
and poultry for genetic improvement (Flowers, 2005). This was especially effective
in dairy cattle. By collecting semen from superior bulls, it was possible to make
much faster progress in increasing milk production by selecting daughters with high
milk production. AI is now used in beef cattle, swine, and other animals as a tool for
rapid genetic progress in many heritable traits of economic importance.
Cloning Animals
Cloning
is an asexual method of reproduction. It is the making of a biological copy
of another organism with the identical genetic makeup. Animal cloning received
worldwide attention with the birth of the first mammal cloned from an adult cell
from the famous sheep, Dolly, in the United Kingdom (Wilmut et al., 1997). Ten
years later, cattle, pigs, goats, cats, rabbits, and mice have been cloned (Lai and
Prather, 2005).
