A New Perspective on Animal Improvement: Metabolomics

Abstract

In order to obtain a high yield from animals, improvement studies were carried out by various methods. Until 1990’s, improvement studies were carried out only with phenotypic methods. With the rapid development of genetic science, the possibilities of using genome analysis in improvement studies were investigated. One of the genomic analysis sections is the functional gens. In order to be able to reveal the efficacy of the functional gens, the possibilities of using metabolomics in animal improvement have begun to be investigated. There are nearly 20000 metabolites in living beings. When the relationship of these metabolites with yields, diseases and adaptations of livestock animals is revealed, the use of metabolites in animal improvement is thought to make selection more efficient.