Potential market value of reproductive technologies Sven König, Dep. Anim. Breed., University of Kassel

Definition Biotechnology = Application of technologies with the aim of direct or indirect impact on an animals‘ performance Biotechnologies are a major component in animal breeding since domestication, (e.g. castration) Picture:

Biotechnologies today Reproductive technologies  Artifical Insemination (AI)  Embryo Transfer (ET)  Ovum Pick Up (OPU) and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)  Semen-Sexing  Cloning Molecular genetics  Marker Assisted Selection (MAS)  Genomic Selection (GS)

Content Discussing reproductive technologies in the context of animal breeding Genetic gain  Bulls in top lists  Market value

Aim of Biotechnologies Maximization of genetic gain per time unit  G = I * r TI *  A L genetic gain selection intensityaccuracygenetic variance generation interval

1 st Biotechnology Artificial Insemination (AI) ~ 1950Use of AI in Germany for preventing the spread of epidemic plagues (e.g. Brucella abortus) ~1966Use of AI as a base for progeny testing programs

Progeny testing (PT) program Entire population PT: production, conformation, fertility,… Bull sires Cow sires milk recording herdbook AI Bull dams Bull sires Random mating design Test bulls ‚waiting‘ bull Male calves  G = i * r TI *  A L

PT-Program: Problems Entire population PT: production, conformation, fertility,… Bull sires Cow sires milk recording herdbook AI Bull dams Bull sires Random mating design Test bulls ‚waiting‘ bull Male calves „Manipulation“ due to preferential treatment Time consuming and expensive

PT-Program: Problems  Ø 0.19 % increase of inbreeding per year  0.95 % increase of inbreeding per generation (  F = )  N e = 52 animals ( König and Simianer, 2006)

Pedigree Analysis Wisconsin Admiral Burke Lad Johanna Rag Apple Pabst

No. of AI-stations worldwide (Thibier und Wagner, 2002)

(Calculation based on INTERBULL data; N = foreign daughters; Miglior and Chesnais, 2009) Market share of semen by country

Embryo transfer (ET) 2 nd Biotechnology

years Birth Young Bull (YB) and full sibs 1. calf Full sibs Full sib testing Progeny testing Birth YB Semen production Birth of daughters 1. calf of daughters EBV 4 years 7 years EBV MOET-Breeding Programs  G = i * r TI *  A L

(Bosselmann, 2007) Success of ET Informationr TI (Accuracy of Selection) 100 daughters Full sibs0.5 5 Full sibs Full sibs Full sibs0.64

ET/DT-BP in Osnabrück (Kandzi, 1988) „MOET“ in practice „Ramos“ > 700,000 doses of semen in 40 different countries

Relevance of MOET in the genomic era Central test on station for potential Bull Dam (BD)  Not necessary: Because r MG > r TI from own performance (König and Swalve, 2009)

Relevance of MOET in the genomic era Importance of ET:  Two different opinions 1.Strategy: Genotyping of BD, producing a high no. of offspring, differentiation among full sib embryos based on GBV 2.Strategy: 2-pathway-breeding program (König and Swalve, 2009) Forget the BD and ET, and genotype males calves in a large scale in the population. Why? Meiosis on the way from cow to calf Superior especially for new functional traits

Ø TBV of 5 selected sires ETWithout ET RND PI PHEN HERD PGBV RND PI PHEN HERD PGBV EBV PHEN EBV PHEN Genetic merit, ET, GS (Wensch et al., 2011)

Market value of ET  Generating of YB from interesting BD for AI-breeding programs  80% of all AI-sires in Germany are generated from ET!  Elite calves and heifers for sale (elite auction) are generated from ET!

Ovum Pick Up (OPU) and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) 3 rd Biotechnology 12 follicles at ovary 10 oocytes flushed 2-3 blastocytes (embryos) 4-6 embryos / week 2-3 calves / donor * week Ovum Pick Up (OPU) and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) 12 follicles at ovary 10 oocytes flushed 2-3 blastocytes (embryos) 4-6 embryos / week 2-3 calves / donor * week

ET OPU 1982 Birth of the first OPU / IVF - calf (Bracket et al., „Frosty“) since 1995 Applications of OPU / IVF in the breeding program of ZEH/RPN OPU/IVF versus ET (Roschlau, 2005) ET-flushinjgs / OPU – sessions per year 1982 Birth of the first OPU / IVF - calf (Bracket et al., „Frosty“) since 1995 Applications of OPU / IVF in the breeding program of ZEH/RPN OPU/IVF versus ET ET-flushinjgs / OPU – sessions per year ET OPU

4 th Biotechnology Semen Sexing Y Y Y Y Y X X X X X X X right Y left female offspring male offspring

1.Reduction of „test-inseminations“ of YB in a conventional Breeding Program Young bulls for producing female offspring: reduction of test capacity by 50% 2.Generating of male offspring from the best BD for AI Semen sexing and Breeding 3.Generating of female offspring from the best Cow Dam within farms: Increasing within-farm selection intensity  G = i * r TI *  A L

Sexed semen: On-farm strategy Disadvantages Higher costs Lower pregnancy rates Advantages Female calves (genetic gain) Improved calving ease,… Economic calculations:  0 My strategy Insemination of heifers: using sexed semen Insemination of cows: using conventional semen „Goldday“

Sexed semen: Market value Breed % sexed Brown Swiss ,2 Red Holstein ,6 Holstein ,3 Jersey ,0 Limousin ,8 Ayrshire Montbeliarde ,6 Total ,9 (Swissgenetics, Toro 07-12)

5 th Biotechnology Cloning = Generating of identical copies (apart from cytoplasmatic effects) embryo cloning – adult cloning Starbuck II; geb Copy of an outstanding sireCopy of a great show-cow Lauduc Broker Mandy

Cloning and breeding  G = i * r TI *  A L Cloning is no instrument for animal breeding, because breeding needs genetic variation, but cloning results in uniform animals!

30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Clones Bulls progeny test Records Reliability of EBV (h 2 =0.25) Reliability  G = i * r TI *  A L (Slide by A.E. McClintock)

Market value of clones: Theory Clone breeding program implies breeding in a nucleus (Teepker and Smith, 1998; Teepker, 1990)  Dairy cattle farmers will have access to tested and untested clones; genetic level in the population could be higher than in the nucleus (breeding activities only in the nucleus) Costs for clones (theoretical derivations) (McClintock, 1998; de Boer, 1994)  15 – 20 Euro for untested clones  150 – 200 Euro for tested clones

Market value of clones: Practice Costs for cloning are high (10,000 – 20,000 Euro per cow) Question: Acceptance of consumers (meat and milk) Other efficient reproduction technologies exist (AI, ET) Market value is only given for famous cows or bulls Vandyk-K Integrity Paradise Ex-96-2E Paradise Clone sells for $50,000 in 2003! (Cyagra, Inc., 197 Bossler Road, Elizabethtown USA) Shoremar S Alicia 3E-97 „Alicia’s owners sold Alicia’s Clone before it was born for $100,000 in October of 2002“ (

Final Conclusions AI and GS: substantial impact on genetic gain and market value ET or OPU/IVF: more relevant in the pre-genomic era Semen Sexing: a valuable tool for improving on-farm selection (requires good farm management) Cloning: no breeding, no risk, no fun