NUTRIGENOMICS IN LIVESTOCK RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION: PRINCIPLES, APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Nutrigenomics, or nutritional genomics, is a field of nutrition science that deals with the interactions between nutrients and organisms' genes about 20 relevant peer reviewed articles. Nutrigenomics uses high-throughput technologies to uncover the dietary effects of nutrients on genes responsible for phenotypic traits in livestock production. Some relevant disciplines ancillary to nutrigenomics include, nutrigenetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Its goals are to improve animal performance, welfare, health, fertility, and reduce environmental impact. However, it has not been effectively explored in the tropics due to limiting factors like ‘silos’ nature of research, lack of capital for elaborate studies as well as the technical complexities of the multi-omics research and ethical considerations. This paper, therefore, articulates this emerging field of nutrigenomics in livestock production; with the major focuses on; the principles, goals, techniques, applications, and challenges in livestock research and production. It is expected that researchers will be encouraged to take another look at the possibilities inherent in incorporating nutrigenomics in nutrition and genetics
research in their effort to improve nutritional efficiency of livestock.