Functional genomics and new markers for beef production

Beef is characterized by a high and uncontrolled variability of its quality which is one reason for the dissatisfaction of consumers. Therefore, the beef industry is asking for muscular markers to predict the ability of animals to produce high quality beef. Thanks to the development of genomics, some recent research allowed the identification of markers for muscle growth potential of bovines, for marbling and tenderness of beef and for traceability of grass-based systems. New tools (DNA or protein chips) are in development to assess a great number of these markers simultaneously