New technologies for determining the predisposition of cattle to mastitis are being created by geneticists of the Kostroma State Agricultural Academy

A team of geneticists from the Kostroma State Agricultural Academy is currently researching molecular genetic aspects associated with the morphofunctional characteristics of the mammary gland and predisposition to mastitis in local cattle . 

Since 2019, the Laboratory of Genetics and DNA Technologies, which is part of the Information and Selection Center, has been working on the genetic improvement of cattle herds in the Kostroma region and has achieved significant success. Young breeders have received several grants from the President of the Russian Federation, the Russian Science Foundation, the Innovation Promotion Foundation, the Department of Agro-Industrial Complex of the Kostroma Region and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

Recently, researchers achieved a new breakthrough in the field of genetic testing of cattle , thanks to which they won a competitive selection in 2023 and received a grant to conduct research in the period from 2024 to 2025.

“In order for dairy cattle breeding to be effective, profitable and safe, scientists and practitioners are tasked with increasing the productivity of cows and improving the nutritional and sanitary-technological qualities of the resulting milk. Uncontrolled traditional breeding of animals can lead to an increase in the incidence of mastitis in cows. And this greatly affects the quality of the product. If sick animals are not identified in a timely manner, they are culled, which is why they receive less product from the animal and do not recoup the costs invested in it. And these are already economic losses. Genetic selection methods, in particular the identification of genetic factors that influence the morphofunctional properties of the udder of cows, will help solve this problem more quickly and efficiently,” says the head of the scientific project, Doctor of Biological Sciences Natalya Anatolyevna Kochueva.

A team of young scientists received a grant worth 1.5 million rubles to develop molecular genetic methods for improving local cattle populations. In the process of scientific research, it is planned to study the influence of various genotypes of marker genes on the morphological characteristics and functional properties of the mammary gland of cows. Information technologies will be used to evaluate animals based on economic and biological characteristics.