Biotechnology and Animal Nutrition

To fulfill increased world food demand and to overcome the consequences related to natural and industrial changes, scientists have been trying to select and improve both feedstuff and livestock, genetically. Biotechnology, also involving chemical and physical techniques, is applied to nutrition to increase the abundance (availability) of feed and to improve the digestibility of nutrients in those feeds. Additionally, animal nutrition studies are conducted to determine the safety of human food and modeling of some human diseases. Manipulating animal ability to absorb and utilize more nutrients starts from the plant breeders and continues until where those nutrients are utilized in the body. Microorganisms that have symbiotic life with livestock organism are transgenically manipulated to improve nutrition. Adding new genes to feedstuff gives nutritionists more applicational tools for improving nutrition and animal health through feeds. In contrast, application of recombinant DNA technology to farm animals needs more effort and may result in uncontrollable consequences.