Future prospectives on animal biotechnology

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Abstract
Farm animal reproduction is entering the era of embryo engineering ‐ a part of the new biotechnology revolution that has been sweeping the nation during the early 1980s. This comes at a time when the $70 billion livestock industry is hard‐pressed for survival. Not since the commercial development of artificial insemination (AI) techniques in the 1950s has any new technical research development caused such a stir in the livestock community. The genetic impact of artificial insemination (AI) in the cattle industry these last 40 years cannot be questioned. Nearly three‐fourths of the dairy cattle in the United States are now being artificially inseminated. Also, commercial processing of bull semen has been and still is a major agribusiness success story, grossing millions of dollars annually. With the development of embryo transfer (ET) technology in the mid‐1970s, animal reproduction again entered a new age of technical advancement. It appears that AI and embryo methodology are just the beginning of a new age in animal reproduction technology. Recent developments in molecular biology and genetic engineering now offer a new dimension in research and development for future application to seed stock farm animals. New molecular technologies will most certainly change the traditional approach to animal breeding, thus allowing the livestock producer to select breeding stock on genotype rather than phenotype. In the future, researchers will be able to study whole animal biology to a depth never before dreamed using molecular biology.