The future of farming depends on local breeds
16. The dwindling genetic diversity of farm animals is increasingly becoming a threat to livestock production. Although new DNA technologies can help us address this problem, changing habits to preserve local lineages may prove to be challenging. It is hard to overestimate the importance of global livestock production to society and the economy. It constitutes the main source of income for 1.3 billion farmers, providing vital food for 800 million subsistence farmers, and making up 40% of global agricultural GDP. But overbreeding and dwindling genetic diversity could limit the ability of livestock populations to adapt the environmental changes, such as global warming and related new diseases. Currently on the sidelines, lesser-known livestock breeds and the DNA they carry could become key to securing the future of livestock farming. For four years leading up to 2014, a European research project chaired by EPFL took stock of the past, present, and future of farm animal genetic resources and outlined the questions of highest priority for research, infrastructure and policy development for the coming decade. A selection of the project's scientific output has now been published by the open access journal Frontiers in Genetics and is available online in the form of 31 research papers. A shrinking genetic reservoir - Over the past 100 years, many local breeds have gone extinct, as more productive industrial breeds have taken over. Even within these breeds, the genetic diversity between individuals is shrinking. So why does this matter?
