| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Department of Dairy Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061
E-mail: rma{at}vt.edu
In recent years, the number of researchers interested in mammary development and mammary function in dairy animals has declined. More importantly this cadre of workers has come to rely more than ever on scientists focused on and funded by breast cancer interests to provide fundamental mechanistic and basic cellular insights. Philosophically and practically this is a risky path to better understand, manipulate, and control a national resource as important as the dairy cow. The efficiency, resourcefulness, and dedication of dairy scientists have mirrored the actions of many dairy producers but there are limits. Many of the applications of research, use of bovine somatotropin, management of transition cows, estrus synchronization techniques, and so on, are based on decades-old scientific principles. Specific to dairy, do rodents or breast cancer cell lines adequately represent the dairy cow? Will these results inspire the next series of lactation-related dairy improvements? These are key unanswered questions. Study of the classic mammogenic and lactogenic hormones has served dairy scientists well. But there is an exciting, and bewildering universe of growth factors, transcription factors, receptors, intracellular signaling intermediates, and extracellular molecules that must ultimately interact to determine the size of the mature udder and the functional capacity of mammary gland in the lactating cow. We can only hope that enough scientific, fiscal, and resource scraps fall from the biomedical research banquet table to allow dairy-focused mammary gland research to continue.
Key Words: growth hormone • mammary • signaling • lactation
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  J. Bohmanova, J. Jamrozik, and F. Miglior Effect of pregnancy on production traits of Canadian Holstein cows J Dairy Sci, June 1, 2009; 92(6): 2947 - 2959. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Loker, F. Miglior, J. Bohmanova, L. R. Schaeffer, J. Jamrozik, and G. Kistemaker Short communication: Effect of preadjusting test-day yields for stage of pregnancy on variance component estimation in Canadian Ayrshires J Dairy Sci, May 1, 2009; 92(5): 2270 - 2275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Loker, F. Miglior, J. Bohmanova, J. Jamrozik, and L. R. Schaeffer Phenotypic analysis of pregnancy effect on milk, fat, and protein yields of Canadian Ayrshire, Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Guernsey breeds J Dairy Sci, March 1, 2009; 92(3): 1300 - 1312. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. J. Loor and W. S. Cohick ASAS Centennial Paper: Lactation biology for the twenty-first century J Anim Sci, February 1, 2009; 87(2): 813 - 824. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Piantoni, M. Bionaz, D. E. Graugnard, K. M. Daniels, R. M. Akers, and J. J. Loor Gene Expression Ratio Stability Evaluation in Prepubertal Bovine Mammary Tissue from Calves Fed Different Milk Replacers Reveals Novel Internal Controls for Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction J. Nutr., June 1, 2008; 138(6): 1158 - 1164. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Zhou, R. M. Akers, and H. Jiang Growth Hormone Can Induce Expression of Four Major Milk Protein Genes in Transfected MAC-T Cells J Dairy Sci, January 1, 2008; 91(1): 100 - 108. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
