The uses of animals in biotechnology are expansive, and many times overlooked.  This lesson will have students exploring the wide range of uses of animals in biotechnology and formulating an opinion about the uses of animals in biotechnology.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antimicrobial resistance is a looming threat to global health. As a result, the livestock industry is moving away from using antibiotics in feed to enhance growth. But this shift may have led to increased rates of systemic infections and reduced production efficiency. Alternatives for antibiotic growth promotants (AGPs) are needed, but the mechanism behind the efficiency of AGPs is largely unknown. So, a recent study systematically evaluated the composition and function of the chicken gut microbial community in response to AGPs. The impact of AGPs was dependent on the birds' age and diet as well as the intestinal sampling location. Overall, AGPs had a limited impact on the abundances of specific microbial groups but did shift which groups were influential and exclude others. The chicken gut microbiome functionally responded to AGPs by changing the expression of multiple pathways, including by increasing expression of cell wall formation and antimicrobial resistance mechanism genes..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Part 1 Nutrional Unit for Animal Science. This lesson goes over 6 basic nutrients.  AFNR.HS.2.2.a Demonstrate management techniques that ensure animal welfare.AFNR.HS.2.2.b Analyze procedures to ensure that animal products are safe for consumption.

This activity will check students’ understanding of the swine ear-notching system of livestock identification. Credit @whiteoakffa and Sarah Nerswick

In this lesson, students will investigate the different aspects of the poultry industry. Through a stations activity, they will define poultry terminology, anatomical names, feed calculations, breeds and different types of commercial bird housing. 

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Diarrhea is common among calves and causes huge losses to the global cattle industry. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is one promising approach to prevent and treat calf diarrhea. However, achieving success with FMT is difficult because of farm management differences, a lack of good donors, and the difficulty of recipient selection. To guide more effective FMT, a recent study investigated factors related to FMT success or failure in 20 donor–recipient pairs. The overall success rate for diarrhea improvement was 70%. Selenomonas bacteria were found in both donors and recipients when FMT was successful, suggesting that Selenomonas may be a biomarker of donor–recipient compatibility, and Sporobacter was identified as a potential biomarker for good donor selection. Pairs of correlations between specific microbial taxa and metabolites were also linked to success, and low levels of pre-FMT glycerol 3-phosphate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, and isoamylamine were predicted to facilitate good results..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Animal health is of utmost importance in the production of milk, meat, and other animal products. Although vitamin supplements can help ensure livestock remain as healthy as possible, they are often expensive, driving up the cost of production. To help reduce these costs, a team of researchers set out to better understand how the essential vitamins B and K₂ are produced by microbes in the gastrointestinal tracts of ruminants, which are animals with complex digestive tracts composed of multiple distinct compartments to help them break down their plant-based diets. The team used genetic data from previous studies to identify 1,135,807 genes and 2366 full genomes involved in B or K₂ vitamin biosynthesis in the gastrointestinal tracts of seven ruminant species. They also found that most of this biosynthesis took place in the stomach compartments rather than other regions and that a high-grain diet enhanced most vitamin biosynthesis but inhibited cobalamin synthesis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students will learn about various aspects of the goat industry. They will compare and contrast dairy and meat goats. They will learn about hoof trimming, breeds and goat products. 

This textbook includes basic principles of large animal surgery and anesthesia, how to apply those principles to cases and situations, and discover ways of finding answers when you don’t remember the information, are presented with cases that aren’t “textbook” and/or things don’t go as planned.

Students will analyze animals against a standard ideal, and explain the relationship between an animal’s form and function.

Students will be able to use correct terminology for livestock (e.g. bovine, steer, ewe, ram). This lesson is used in exploring agriculture, animal science lesson.  Written by Kathryn Savat.

This class provides a historical survey of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals.

This site shows the inexpensive and permanent ear-notching swine identification system, explaining significance of notch placement to create an individual identity number for each animal, and techniques for effective notching. Accessed 2022 from University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Publications.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Unlike for our ancestors, plants can provide all the nutrients we need Yet, worldwide, average meat consumption per person is higher than ever As the global population grows and natural resources wane, how sustainable is this trend? A special issue of the journal animal gathers seven articles that explore that question with respect to livestock production Collectively, they provide a data-driven basis for establishing sustainable livestock practices The research topics covered include the link between livestock and human health The importance of ruminant animals in transforming indigestible plant matter into high-quality food And the trade-offs to consider in minimizing the environmental footprint of livestock production Although not exhaustive, the gathered articles provide a useful look at the current state of livestock production And what the future could hold Editorial: Gill et al. "Livestock production evolving to contribute to sustainable societies..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antibiotic use can increase the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within microbial communities. This occurs in many settings, including in agricultural fields and within the digestive tract of livestock. These two settings interact when manure is used as fertilizer, carrying ARGs from the livestock gut to soil. Earthworms — and their gut microbiomes — play key roles in soil nutrient cycling and are often used as bioindicators in environmental risk assessment. However, the impact of common agricultural antimicrobials or the addition of manure on ARGs in the gut microbiome of earthworms is rarely examined. A recent study found that exposure to the fungicide carbendazim altered their gut microbial community and increased the abundance of ARGs. Specifically, earthworms dwelling in the manure-amended soil had more abundant ARGs in their gut microbiome and exposure to carbendazim enhanced this effect..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.