Penn State researchers traced more than 99% of these dairy cows back to one bull, born in the 1960s. This genetic homogeneity increases the risk of inherited disorders. Researchers bred a small batch of new cows using the preserved semen of deceased bulls and compared them to modern-bred dairy cows with the hopes to address any traits that have been lost due to prolonged inbreeding.
related article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030215000727
I cannot believe how inbred these cows are! This is very concerning, because as the article says it can have very negative impacts on the breed. I would also think it might have some sort of impact on the healthiness of the milk these cows are producing, and that is something I think they should check on.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting, I wonder if this would affect the quality of the milk we are drinking. Either way this is not good and will hopefully be fixed.
ReplyDeleteI never would have guessed that these cows were so inbred! I wonder what kind of effect the inherited disorders could have on the nutrition contained in the milk - it could potentially have negative effects on the calves when they are young and relying on the milk to grow!
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