Cattle provide meat, milk and hide products to people all over the world, and are used as work animals for a variety of critical tasks. Their importance as a source of food and economic output prompts an important question: Where did they come from?
On this episode of Talking Biotech, veterinary scientist Dr. Hans Lenstra from Utrecht University joins geneticist Kevin Folta to discuss the domestication of cattle, their significance throughout the world and why breeders have selected the traits they have. Folta and Lenstra also examine how genomic selection, artificial insemination and gene editing might influence the future of cattle production.
Hans Lenstra is retired from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Kevin M. Folta is a professor in the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. Follow Professor Folta on Twitter @kevinfolta