A New Breed

Genomics and advanced reproductive technologies have turned cattle breeding into a whole new animal.

kerry grens
| 4 min read

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MOOOOVE OVER TRADITIONAL BREEDING: Genetic profiling is changing the complexion of cattle breeding.HOLSTEIN ASSOCIATION USA

A few days before the annual World Dairy Expo, bovine competitors start arriving so they can acclimate to the Wisconsin autumn after traveling, in some cases, thousands of miles. The Expo is the premier beauty pageant for the barnyard set, attracting tens of thousands of participants and spectators from around the world to ogle the cream of the crop. The animals undergo elaborate primping (blow-outs, pedicures, glitter dustings, etc.) prior to parading before the judges. Last year, the International Red & White Show at the Expo, a best-in-show competition for fawn-colored Holsteins, hosted an exquisite set of specimens. About a dozen cows, their giant udders swollen from not having been milked for half a day, posed in front of a roaring crowd of thousands, recalls ...

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Meet the Author

  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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