Abstract

The heady days of biotechnology that were driven by the assumption that biotechnology would solve all biological problems with simple solutions, are over. The ‘biotech’ investment in the mid to late 1990’s was driven predominantly by commercial and scientific enthusiasm, ignoring biological, commercial and regulatory realities. In the post-bubble environment, the dairy industry, including ViaLactia Biosciences and our research partner Livestock Improvement Corporation are undertaking a research program endeavouring to align the expectations of the market, the investors and the limits of technology. In general, the thrust has been to utilize existing or develop new biological resources and where they are required and not available, tools for discovery. Much of the on-going challenge is in defining the opportunity (desired phenotype), predicting technological developments, large scale investment in the public domain and matching the approach to the problem within time and budgetary constraints. Our approach will be presented with some examples of successes.

RG, Snell

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 64, Hamilton, 83-85, 2004