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• The expression of a gene product that can be used as a vaccine or as a reagent in a diagnostic assay. Recombinant vaccines and vector virus expressed diagnostic reagents are now a reality and are being increasingly used for a variety of reasons including specificity, safety and cost.
• Molecular epidemiology is a fast growing discipline that enables characterization of pathogen isolates (virus, bacteria, parasites) by nucleotide sequencing for the tracing of their origin. This is particularly important for epidemic diseases, where the possibility of pinpointing the source of infection can significantly contribute to improved disease control.
• The production of therapeutic substances through the insertion of specific genes into a variety of living tissues ranging from single cells to complete animals or plants. There are already successes in this area and the potential is considerable.
• An area that is more complex and involves initially identifying (normally) several genes that control a particularly advantageous genetic productivity trait, and then to identify individuals or specific breeds that have this gene cluster and breed from these for subsequent production. A final, more long-term goal is this area would be to actually insert such advantageous genes into a particular breed or species to perpetuate that trait through genetic modification.
• The genome for many organisms, including human, will soon be compiled. The genome provides a blueprint and reflects the potential of an organism, but the genome itself does not tell us what actually takes place. All cells contain the complete genome of a given organism, but not all genes are expressed within each cell type. Therefore, it becomes imperative to study the expression of the genes and post-translational modification of proteins coded by genes through transcriptome and proteomics. In context to developing countries, one approach could be control of expression of genes, which confer disease resistance or specific production trait, through simple approaches such as nutrition or environmental triggers.
• Production of transgenic animals with defined traits and utilization of cloning procedures as a tool for identical multiplication of valuable animals.
• Global surveys indicate that some 30% of all remaining livestock breeds are at risk of loss, with little conservation effort currently invested. The majority of domestic animal breeds are in developing countries. The use of microsatellites in genetic distancing of breeds will help conserving the livestock breeds through the conservation of genomic DNA, amongst a number of other approaches.
• Plant biotechnologies to improve the nutritional quality of plant feedstuffs and by-products offer enormous opportunities, potential and benefits for the livestock industry. Tremendous strides have been made in the recent past. The genetic engineering of a golden rice with high levels of beta-carotene and iron is almost a reality, which is likely to have vast implications in developing countries. This has demonstrated that it is now possible not only to transfer a single gene, but the entire genetic pathway for producing a nutritionally advantageous substance in a plant. There are several examples where the composition of oils, proteins and carbohydrate in seeds of corn and soybean, and other crops has been modified to produce grains with enhanced value using plant breeding and molecular technologies. Improving feed quality through genetic manipulation holds great promise, e.g. change of leaf/stem ratio, introduction of 'stay green' traits, increase in digestibility of nutrients especially fibre of tropical forages, decrease in fibre content and increase in cell solubles, increase in soluble carbohydrate in roughages, increase of protein in tropical forages and decrease in degradability of protein in the rumen for temperate forages, increase in sulphur amino acids in leguminous forage, regulation of protein and carbohydrate contents and their degradation to achieve maximum microbial protein synthesis in the rumen, etc.
• In the longer term, there appear to be good prospects of manipulating the rumen microflora capable of utilizing feeds in ruminant species to degrade fibre and lignin, increase efficiency of nitrogen utilization, and to break down antinutritional and toxic factors. The establishment of genetically modified microorganisms or a 'foreign microbe' in the rumen can be monitored using competitive PCR method and 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes which do not require culturing of microbes. Such probes could also be used for getting a better insight into the rumen ecology, and then to use this information to develop an appropriate feeding strategy and also to decrease the emission of environmental polluting gas, in particular methane from ruminants.
• Genetically engineered silage inoculants, pre- and pro-biotics, feed additives, immunomodulators, etc., are also likely to have considerable impact on enhancing nutrient availability and productivity and health status of farm animals.

It should be noted that in almost all areas of this research, isotopic markers are extensively used and are in most cases essential for achieving levels of sensitivity required for genetic characterization and manipulation. Genetic engineering has the potential to solve problems relating to animal productivity and to animal health but at present the focus is on those that face livestock producers in the developed world. To address the problems facing livestock farmers in developing countries will require characterization and application in these regions if the full benefit of this technology is to be realized globally.
It is intended to discuss the issues under three main headings:

1. Gene-based technologies in animal health
2. Gene-based technologies in animal genetics and breeding
3. Gene-based technologies in animal nutrition

The discussion on future perspective of biotechnology in animal agriculture would be incomplete without considering issues such as ethical, development policy, ecological risks, environmental impact, intellectual property right, etc., related to gene-based technologies. These aspects will be addressed in each of the three categories.