Importance and Potential Applications of Nanobiotechnology and Systems Biology for Livestock Science

Abstract

Nano-materials were utilized as therapeutics and diagnostics agents in the context of human medicine. However, the application of nanoparticles in the field of livestock animals is still at a nascent stage. The proper utilization of nanoparticles in livestock sciences, such as improvement in milk production, diagnosis of varied diseases, delivery of nutrients and/or in their reproduction, offers prospective outcomes which have direct implications to meet the ever-growing human populations. Further, with the advent of high throughput omics technologies, noteworthy development in the past decades has paved the way to advanced systems biology area. The high throughput data handling from diverse omics methodologies and making a holistic interpretation posed a challenge, moreover, to connect the dots and present a larger picture of the intricate network level data, systems biology comes to the rescue. The design and advancement in different algorithms of systems biology tools seldom help one to integrate multi-layered data. Systems biology is applied to livestock animals and poultry for their overall development and/or risk assessment for their diseases. In this chapter, we discussed the implementation of nanobiotechnology and systems biology approaches to livestock animals. We illustrated a few examples of how the application of nanotech and systems biology improved some desired qualities in livestock. This chapter summarizes the ongoing research and efforts of different groups, along with the future prospects of innovative technologies in the area of nanotech and systems biology.