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Eight paternal half-sib Angus calves born in late April and early May, 1988 were used to investigate the potential relationship of serum IGF-I concentration with photoperiod and various weather variables including minimum, maximum and average air temperatures, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and solar radiation. To determine IGF-I concentration, blood samples were obtained at birth and then weekly until the calves reached 1 mo of age and bi-weekly thereafter. Blood sampling continued until the calves reached puberty as determined by progesterone and testosterone assays. Photoperiod and each weather variable were averaged over the 3 d prior to and including the day of blood sampling (4-d average). Data were divided into two periods: (1) birth through the end of the postweaning period and (2) postweaning period only. Serum IGF-I concentrations were analyzed using a model which included the fixed effects of sex and sample number, the random effect of calf nested within sex and the fixed interaction of sex x sample number, in addition to covariates for weight, photoperiod and weather variables. From birth through the end of the postweaning test, none of the weather variables or photoperiod had significant effects on serum IGF-I concentrations when each was fitted separately. For the postweaning period only, cubic regression coefficients for minimum and average temperatures were .0962 +/- .0325 ng/ml/degrees C3 and .0976 +/- .0272 ng/ml/degrees C3, respectively (P < .01). The quadratic regression coefficient for relative humidity during the postweaning period was -.2991 +/- .1142 ng/ml/%2 (P < .05). The quartic regression coefficient for wind speed during the postweaning period was -36.435 +/- 13.00 ng/ml/(km/hr)4 (P < .01). Maximum temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and photoperiod did not have significant effects on postweaning serum IGF-I concentrations. Based on these data, we conclude that temperature, humidity and wind speed were contributing factors to variation in serum IGF-I concentrations in postweaned beef calves.

One-hundred-sixty-six purebred Angus cows comprising three replicates were synchronized using prostaglandin, superovulated using a series of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) injections and artificially inseminated. Multiple birth rate was 27% (six sets of twins, one set each of triplets and quadruplets), 12% (one set of twins) and 10% (seven sets of twins and one set of triplets) in replicates 1, 2 and 3, respectively, for a combined multiple birth rate of 15.74%. Type of birth affected gestation length with twins, triplets and quadruplets having 6, 14 and 12 day shorter gestations than singles, and also affected birth weight with weights decreasing by 8, 15 and 21 kg, respectively, as number of offspring born increased from one through four. Type of rearing greatly influenced weaning weights (P

Blood samples were collected from eight sets of Simmental crossbred identical twin heifers at 291. 328, 254, 656 and 684 days of age and were assayed for serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). The between twin set intraclass correlation for IGF-1 at these ages was −0.08±0.38, 0.25±0.35, 0.62±0.23, 0.68±0.21 and 0.54±0.27, respectively. Residual correlations of serum IGF-1 concentrations with weights taken at the same ages ranged from 0.29 (P > 0.10) to 0.74 (P 0.10) to 0.61 (P

Mammary secretions obtained from four groups of sows at parturition and on days 7, 14 and 21 of lactation were defatted and assayed for total protein and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Sows (n = 57) represented two breeds (Landrace and Duroc) and two genetic lines (selected for differences in sow productivity index, SPI) within each breed. Colostrum of Duroc sows was 4-6 fold and 30-60 fold greater in protein (P less than .001) and IGF-I (P less than .001) concentrations, respectively, than the corresponding day 7 milk from these sows. In contrast, the colostrum of Landrace sows was 2-3 fold and 30-50 fold greater in protein (P less than .001) and IGF-I (P less than .001) concentrations, respectively, than the corresponding day 7 milk. The IGF-I content in milk from Duroc sows did not differ among days 7, 14 and 21 of lactation, whereas the IGF-I content of day 7 milk from Landrace sows exceeded those for the corresponding 14 day and 21 day secretion (P less than .05). IGF-I concentration in days 14 and 21 milk was higher in Duroc (P less than .001 respectively) than Landrace sows. No significant differences in total protein or IGF-I content of mammary secretions were observed between the selected and control lines within each breed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

At the close of the millennium, a revolution in the treatment of disease is taking shape due to the emergence of new therapies based on human recombinant proteins. The ever-growing demand for such pharmaceutical proteins is an important driving force for the development of safe and large-scale production platforms. Since the efficacy of a human protein is generally dependent on both its amino acid composition as well as various post-translational modifications, many recombinant human proteins can only be obtained in a biologically active conformation when produced in mammalian cells. Hence, mammalian cell culture systems are often used for expression. However, this approach is generally known for limited production capacity and high costs. In contrast, the production of (human) recombinant proteins in milk of transgenic farm animals, particularly cattle, presents a safe alternative without the constraint of limited protein output. Moreover, compared to cell culture, production in milk is very cost-effective. Although transgenic farm animal technology was still in its infancy a decade ago, today it is on the verge of fulfilling its potential of providing therapeutic proteins that can not be produced otherwise in sufficient quantities or at affordable cost. Since 1989, we have been at the forefront of this development, as illustrated by the birth of Herman, the first transgenic bull. In this communication, we will present an overview of approaches we have taken over the years to generate transgenic founder animals and production herds. Our initial strategies were based on microinjection; at the time the only viable option to generate transgenic cattle. Recently, we have adopted a more powerful approach founded on the application of nuclear transfer. As we will illustrate, this strategy presents a breakthrough in the overall efficiency of generating transgenic animals, product consistency, and time of product development.