First published Jan . 2004 in the Michigan Dairy Review

All living things share the basic biological principal that tens of thousands of genes encoded in the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are used at specific developmental stages in response to hormones, nutrients, infections, and other important physiological stimuli to make proteins that determine an animal’s functional status. This genomic response (i.e., geneuse response) of relevant cells to such stimuli thus underlies an animal’s overall physiology and significantly influences economically important traits (phenotypes) of interest in dairy cattle. Thus, individual cells’ usage of various genes at any point in time determines the physiological responses of each dairy cow. Some of the most important phenotypes that affect dairy farm performance are disease resistance, feed intake, mammary development and milk production, and reproductive efficiency. Great strides have been made by producers to enhance these performance phenotypes through management strategies that presumably optimize immunity, rations, pregnancies, and genetic improvement. However, we have almost no understanding of what the various cells of a cow’s body really need for optimal performance. We also have no idea of what genes are influenced by our management practices, or how we can regulate expression of the most important genes in relevant cell types for improved performance. To change this lack of understanding we need to study all genes potentially expressed in bovine cells under scenarios that are important to dairy production. This new line of study is called animal functional genomics. The function of given cell types are examined according to the variety of genes they express in response to their blood and tissue environments. The Center for Animal Functional Genomics (CAFG) at Michigan State University is comprised of researchers in the Department of Animal Science. They have collaborated with other laboratories on campus, nationally, and internationally to create bovine-specific functional genomics tools. These tools are used to identify patterns of expressed genes in key cells exposed to relevant stimuli that underlie some of the best and worst phenotypes in dairy cows. Examples are immune From Genes to Farms http://www.mdr.msu.edu Michigan Dairy Review