High-Tech Genomics Methods Could Predict Beef Quality Before It Reaches Your Plate
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
French scientists have developed DNA tests that can help predict beef quality before it reaches consumers plates. The new approach seeks to modernize the meat industry’s traditional methods and replace them with a more high-tech and precise way to measure beef quality.
In an effort to find a more consistent way to predict beef quality before it reaches grocery store shelves, a team of French researchers have selected close to 3,000 genes that impact tenderness, flavour, and juiciness, which are the three main aspects that influence meat quality. These parameters were chosen after extensive analysis of scientific literature.
The research team examined the relationship between two gene families which are known as “heat shock proteins” (HSP) and how those genes impact meat tenderness. This discovery could lead to the development of a DNA chip – which would be able to analyse and select genes’ activity in beef muscle samples.
The research project was led by Jean-François Hocquette and a group of researchers at the Herbivore Research Unit of the National Agronomic Research Institute.
Similarly, a study published in Journal Biomed Central Veterinary Research demonstrates that genetic analysis can help improve the quality of beef. In fact, some of the genes that were looked at in this particular study accounted close to 40% of the variability of tenderness when looking at different samples.
The next step following the study is to group all of the identified markers and use an algorithm that can be utilized to predict meat quality in a more precise manner, compared to how it’s currently being done. This recent discovery paves the way for establishing more opportunities in the beef sector – including the creation of a consumer label of certification that may include genetic criteria.