They create a chip to improve cattle tracking in Argentina

News in bovine genetics! Researchers from the Faculty of Agronomy of the UBA, UNLP, and CONICET have developed a revolutionary chip with molecular markers for the Brangus, Braford, and Brahman breeds in Argentina. This chip, named ArBos1, winner of the award in the Applied Research category of Innovar 2016, will improve the genetic selection and traceability of the South American country’s breeders.

With a set of 640,000 molecular markers, this chip allows breeders to access genomic information in a more accessible way and at a lower cost, compared to international tools. According to FAUBA, this technology facilitates the addition of genomic information to the pedigree and phenotypic characteristics, such as weight and ultrasound measurements of beef, contributing to the improvement of herds in less time and with fewer expenses.

Rodolfo Cantet, from FAUBA, highlights the uniqueness of this development, indicating that previous chips did not satisfy the needs of the Brahman, Brangus, and Braford breeds in Argentina. ArBos1, with its cost of $40 per animal, becomes a crucial tool for the identification of genetic polymorphisms and the diagnosis of hereditary diseases, in addition to facilitating paternity assays and lineage studies.