Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Agriculture have been able to decode the genome of the cow, a discovery that may further lead to more nutritious milk, meat and increased food supply.

 

The study was published in the current online edition of the journal Science.

 

“It’s a huge and significant advancement to have whole genome information of important traits in cattle,” said Ronnie Green, senior director for global technical services of Pfizer Animal Genetics, a unit of New York-based Pfizer Inc.’s Animal Health unit. Green participated in the research in a previous job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

Six years were needed to decode the genetic sequence of “L1 Dominette 01449,” a Hereford cow at a research farm on the outskirts of Miles City, Mont.

 

About 300 researchers from 25 countries worked together in this study, analyzing the 22,000 genes of the bovine genetic code, which includes cell instructions for making milk and muscles.

 

The study showed how the cow’s four- chambered stomach digests and transforms grass forage into body tissues that make high-quality beef.

 

Also, the study found special genes governing cattle reproduction, digestion, lactation and immune resistance to disease that “may provide an enabling tool for genetic improvement within the beef and dairy industries,” wrote senior author Kim C. Worley of Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, based in Houston.