Thursday, September 29, 2011

Illumina Launches Genomic Chip Aimed At Cattle

San Diego-based Illumina, the developer of gene sequencing and other life sciences tools, said today that it has launched a product aimed at genotyping dairy cattle. Illumina said its new BovineLD (low density) BeadChip can be used for genomic selection, parentage, and traceability of cattle. The dairy industry has been using DNA sequencing to better select cattle for milk production, for breeding, and other purposes. Scientists first completed gene sequencing of the cow in 2009, the first livestock animal whose genes have been fully sequenced, allowing scientists--and breeders--to better understand what traits and genes have been bred into cows by man.

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