Biotechnological therapies for animal reproduction in the livestock sector

Biotechnology has an important field in livestock farming to improve the production and genetic traits of animals due to increasing demand of livestock industry by increasing offspring of selected males and females for beef animals. This review mostly focuses on the applications of biotechnology that are applied in animal reproduction. Artificial insemination, estrus synchronization, embryo transfer, embryo sexing and cloning are techniques adopted in developed and developing countries. Artificial insemination is a breeding method that can be used to produce superior genetics and to improve herd quality by introducing sperm into the female reproductive system. Various methods have been used to collect semen such as, artificial vagina, Electroejaculation and massage methods. The protocol of estrus synchronization brings female animals into the estrus at a predicted time in commercial dairy farms. Hormones commonly used in protocols are prostaglandin F2a (PG), gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and progestins. The most commonly used protocols are Select Synch and Select Synch + CIDR. Advanced cloning techniques produce genetically identical copies of the desired animal or species with the same DNA. Embryo transfer describes the protocol of how one or more embryos are collected from the donor female and transferred to the recipient female. The unique sex determination method was developed by analyzing the chromosome in cells from a bovine embryo. Demand for livestock production in the future could be heavily moderated by socioeconomic factors such as human health concerns and changing socio-cultural values. There is considerable uncertainty as to how these factors will play out in different regions of the world in the coming decades.