Spotlight

Anita Oberbauer

Anita Oberbauer Wins Teaching Prize

By Dateline Staff


Pardon the interruption, students, but we wanted you to know the animal science professor standing in front of you, Anita Oberbauer, whom you fondly call “Dr. O,” is the recipient of the 2018-19 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement.

Justin Buchanan, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher for Alison Van Eenennaam of the Department of Animal Science, was hired by Simplot as a geneticist at the project’s conclusion.

Bull Market - Collaboration with beef industry tests advanced breeding technologies

By Robin DeRieux

COWS ARE SPECIAL. As ruminants, they eat grass and other plants that are inedible to people, transforming forage into steak and hamburgers and other tasty high-protein beef products.

Over the past few decades, the beef industry has made significant improvements in productivity—generating more food from fewer numbers of cattle. Better breeding and other innovations in animal science research have played a starring role in these advances.

santa cruz horses

McLean and Murray aim to preserve genetics of Santa Cruz Island horses

by Joe Proudman, UC Davis

IT'S HOT AT EL CAMPEON FARMS, even for early August. A hard wind accompanies the heat, blowing through the Conejo Valley, where this horse ranch sits in Southern California. Abby Followwill is saddled on a horse named Vince. His golden-brown coat and blond mane stand out against the saturated blue sky and dusty corral where Followwill is training with him.

Associate professor Anne Todgham studies stress in sea creatures

Anne Todgham on how how Antarctic fish cope with climate stress

Some Antarctic fish living in the planet’s coldest waters are able to cope with the stress of rising carbon dioxide levels in the ocean. They can even tolerate slightly warmer waters. But they can’t deal with both stressors at the same time, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.
Alison Van Eenennaam

Alison Van Eenennaam examines how gene editing can enhance sustainability plus animal health and welfare

Gene Editing Can Complement Traditional Food-Animal Improvements
By Pat Bailey (UC Davis News)

Quick Summary
  • Gene editing builds on traditional breeding successes
  • The technology enhances sustainability plus animal health and welfare
  • Questions remain about regulatory issues

Gene editing — one of the newest and most promising tools of biotechnology — enables animal breeders to make beneficial genetic changes, without bringing along unwanted genetic changes.

Studying Mozambique tilapia, the researchers found that short DNA segments enhance expression of genes that regulate the fish's internal body chemistry in response to salinity stress. (Photo by Greg Hume/Creative Commons)

Research led by Dietmar Kueltz sheds light on how some fish adapt to saltwater

By Pat Baily, UC Davis News

Most fish live either in freshwater or saltwater, but others, including tilapia, have the remarkable ability to physiologically adjust to varying salinity levels — a trait that may be critically important as climate change begins to alter the salinity of ocean and coastal waters as well as the water in desert lakes and creeks.

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