The potential impact of current animal research on the meat industry and consumer attitudes towards meat

Progress in animal nutrition, reproduction, quantitative genetics, and the development of molecular genetics, proteomics, and functional genomics open new perspectives for the meat sector. The most promising developments include a wider utilisation of molecular markers, the possibilities of semen sexing and the targeted use of nutrition to modify the composition of meat. The increased use of biotechnology will have a considerable impact on the economics of production of meat and further processed products. New technologies will increase the possibilities for product differentiation and improve homogeneity of live animals. The consumer and society in general Will influence the direction of these developments. This review will focus on the long-term impact of new technologies for the meat production chain. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.