Control your CVM risk

摘要

Use information from A.I. organizations and DNA tests to identify carrier animals and make better mating decisions. Today's astounding cow productivity is based on innumerable generations of natural selection and careful cattle breeding programs. And, as breeding professionals emphasized favorable traits like milk production, some recessive genes carrying negative traits came along for the ride. Complex vertebral malformation (CVM) is one such undesirable genetic consequence. Recently, Danish researchers discovered that CVM lurks in a single recessive gene suspected to cause embryonic death, abortions and still-born calves. Since fetus death occurs at any point in the pregnancy, some losses attributed to reproductive failure may actually be due toCVM.