My first Magazine SFI Little Book - April Re-print edits included | Page 35

Genetics hits the
Bulls-Eye for Cattle Breeding
63
The Prehistoric Cow
64
Back in 2009 Ireland became only the second
country in the world to incorporate DNA information
directly into dairy cow breeding to increase yield.
Scientists led by Dr Donagh Berry at Teagasc
in Cork, have since shown that by analysing the
genome of dairy cows before breeding, genetic
gain has increased by over 50%. These increases
are also predicted to apply to milk, meat and
wool production helping to increase sustainability
without increasing herd size. Back up the road at University College Dublin, scientists
from the School of Agriculture and Food Science are also
studying cattle genomes, only their focus is on ancient
Irish and British livestock. Prof David MacHugh and a
cohort of national and international collaborators have
determined that thousands of years ago, a now-extinct
species of giant wild cattle, the aurochs, crossbred
with the ancestors of modern cattle in Britain and
Ireland. Studying the genomes of the aurochs and the
descendants of these great beasts will have a profound
impact on breeding programmes in dairy and beef cattle.
www.teagasc.ie www.ucd.ie