For 60 years, U.S. livestock producers have used antibiotics to help keep their animals healthy. The practice has drawn criticism for nearly as long.

Today, with concern continuing to mount over the use of antibiotics to treat animals, there’s growing interest in finding alternatives.

“We need to take advantage of opportunities to develop new technologies (in animal health),” says Cyril Gay, national program leader for animal health with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Md.

For instance, advancements in animal genomes (or hereditary information) could accelerate potential breakthroughs in alternatives to antibiotics, he says. Read more…