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1. First genetically edited cows arrive at UC Davis
By Edward Ortiz
Sacramento Bee
December 21, 2015
The two calves that grace a muddy pen on the UC Davis campus will never grow horns typical of their breed. Instead, they'll always sport soft hair on the parts of their heads where hard mounds normally emerge.
Named Spotigy and Buri, the calves were designed in a petri dish at a Minnesota-based genetics lab, with the goal of making them easier to pack into pens and trucks without the nuisance of their horns taking up valuable space. Their offspring may also lack horns, and generations of hornless cows could follow, potentially saving the dairy and cattle industry millions of dollars, said Alison Van Eenennaam, a geneticist at UC Davis' College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences who worked with the Minnesota lab Recombinetics.
This first-of-a-kind result of a process called genetic editing is a test run that's expected to deeply impact the cattle and dairy industry and the entire food supply, Van Eenennaam said. It's also part of a flurry of research looking at how to make cattle easier to maintain, transport and turned into food. The research has raised concerns among some farmers and animal-rights activists who warn of the health and ethical risks of consuming genetically modified food, but so far, that hasn't stopped the research drive.
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2. Texas Tech Researchers Develop Technology to Determine Animal Male Sex Selection
By News Release & Posted By Staff
EverythingLubbock.com
December 21, 2015
LUBBOCK, TX -- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) researchers have developed a low cost technology related to sex select semen that can be used with artificial insemination in animals.
Samuel Prien, Ph.D., and Lindsay Penrose, Ph.D., both with the TTUHSC Department of Ob/Gyn, completed their research, "A Preparatory Technique for Semen Selection." By developing a method to chemically attract the sperm to what is a favorable environment, the research found conception of a male could be as high as 72 percent.
"We provide sperm with numerous environmental choices at the same time," Prien said. "By providing a chemical trail for the cell to follow, it can biochemically select its preferred environment. The technology uses simple chemical properties to affect sperm movement allowing separation of X and Y type sperm for insemination in animals."
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3. LSU researchers study horse colitis treatment
The Advocate
December 21, 2015
LSU researchers have completed a pilot study to evaluate the safety of a new treatment for horses with colitis, an inflammation of the large bowel that can kill the animals.
LSU evaluated crofelemer, which is isolated and purified from the lechleri tree, for San Francisco-based Jaguar Animal Health Inc. Jaguar is a publicly traded firm that develops and commercializes gastrointestinal products for companion and production animals, and horses.
The study involved dosing three healthy horses with crofelemer paste. Over three days the doses were upped to roughly eight times the proposed dosage. The study found that the paste was safe and that "dose-limiting toxicities" were not found at any of the dosage levels.
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4. Veterinarian-client relationship is key to VFD [edited]
By Doug Rich
High Plains Journal
December 21, 2015
The debate over antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance is not over, but there is no debate over the Veterinary Feed Directive. It is a fact of life, and cattlemen are learning how to work with this new wrinkle in their businesses.
Dan Thomson, the Jones professor of epidemiology and production medicine at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said the key to the VFD or antibiotics in the future is going to be the veterinary client-patient relationship. Each state will need to determine how it defines a VCPR.
"In a VCPR a veterinarian engages with a farm, understands the producers operation, has been on the farm and assumes responsibility for the health and medical judgment for the animals on the premise," Thomson said. "They have to be on the farm, they have to know what you are doing, give you case definitions, give you treatment protocols, and they will be available for follow-up care on your facility."
But there is a second part to the veterinary client patient relationship. The client must agree to do what the veterinarian has prescribed. Thomson said as we talk about compliance this will be a big issue, particularly as it pertains to extra-label use.
"What industry doesn't change," Thomson asked Kansas Livestock Association members at their annual convention in Wichita, Kansas, on Dec. 3. "We, the beef industry, have to change just like other industries have changed."
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5. New potentially lethal superbug resistant to ALL antibiotics is found in the UK
By Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor For The Daily Mail
The Daily Mail
December 21, 2015
Potentially lethal superbugs resistant to the most powerful antibiotics have been found in Britain.
Twelve people have been treated for infections linked to virulent strains of salmonella and E.coli carrying a deadly resistance gene.
At the same time, bugs carrying the gene have been found on three pig farms in the UK and chicken meat imported from Europe.
Just last month, scientists sounded the alarm over the dangers of global epidemics caused by infections that doctors would not be able to treat.
The warning followed the discovery of a superbug version of E.coli on pig farms in China.
It contained the MCR-1 resistance gene that disables the last-line antibiotic colistin, which would normally be used to treat humans after all other drugs have failed.
Now this same resistance gene - MCR-1 - has been found on bugs in people, farm animals and meat in Britain.
UK public health experts insist the current risk to the public is 'very low' and the bacteria can be killed through thorough cooking.
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6. Agriculture Appropriations Bill Adds Funds for FSMA Implementation
Quality Assurance Magazine
December 21, 2015
In the Agriculture Appropriations bill included in the Omnibus that was approved last week, a number of food industry programs received funding, with a total of $21.75 billion in discretionary funding - $925 million above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $34 million below the President's budget request - for these programs. This level reflects the increased domestic discretionary funding provided by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which was enacted on November 2.
Among these were:
* The FDA receives a total of $2.72 billion in discretionary funding in the bill, an increase of $132 million over the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $14 million below the President's budget request. Total funding for the FDA, including revenue from user fees, is $4.68 billion. Within this total, food safety activities are increased by $104.5 million, and various medical product safety activities - including additional funds for the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria initiative, orphan product development grants, foreign high-risk inspections, and precision medicine - are increased by over $24.3 million.
* The legislation includes more than $1 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service, $1.6 million below the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $3.3 million above the President's request. These mandatory inspection activities help ensure the safety and productivity of the country's $186 billion meat and poultry industry, and keep safe food on American tables. This funding will maintain more than 8,000 frontline inspection personnel for meat, poultry, and egg products at more than 6,400 facilities across the country.
* The legislation also included several policy provisions, including: - A provision repealing mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for certain meat products.
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