Genetic Engineering and Its Application in Animal Breeding: Review

Abstract

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organism’s genome using biotechnology. Genetic engineering alters the genetic makeup of an organism using techniques that remove heritable material, or that introduce DNA prepared outside the organism either directly into the host or into a cell that is then fused or hybridized with the host. This involves using recombinant nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) techniques to form new combinations of heritable genetic material, followed by the incorporation of that material either indirectly through a vector system or directly through micro-injection, macro-injection and micro-encapsulation techniques. Genetic improvement has played important roles in improving the desired traits’ efficiency of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. It has advanced applications in livestock breeding including increase animal production and productivity (meat, milk, wool), improve disease resistance, and biomedical applications (vaccine production). In livestock, knowledge of effects of specific genes and gene combinations on important traits could lead to their enhanced control to create new, more useful populations. Hence, the objectives of this review were to overview on the genetic engineering and its application in animal breeding, and to highlight the general concepts, techniques, types, importance and limitations of genetic engineering in animal breeding.