The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) is pleased to announce, Drs. Amanda Blair, Anna Dilger, and Surendranath Suman will be the featured speakers at the AMSA 69th Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) Recent Advances in Applied Muscle Biology: What Meat Scientists Should Know Symposium, on June 19-22, 2015, in San Angelo, Texas. In this symposium, active researchers will share their current research pertaining to muscle biology and the mechanisms that regulate muscle growth and metabolism.
Presentations from these speakers will focus on the topics below:
· Fetal Programming: Implications in Meat Production: During gestation, there is a tremendous draw of nutrients to meet the demands of the developing fetus and research has demonstrated that if these demands are not satisfied, alterations in fetal development can occur. In her presentation, Dr. Blair, Associate Professor at South Dakota State University, will discuss the implications of maternal nutrient restriction on growth performance, carcass composition, and meat quality characteristics of beef offspring.
· Genome Editing in Livestock Species: Genome editing is an exciting improvement after traditional genetic engineering tools, in that precise changes to the genome are possible. However, its use in livestock species is still in its infancy and at current, there are no commercial available genome edited animals. Dr. Dilger, Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, will discuss the use of these tools, as well as their implications for livestock production and meat quality, with particular attention to ongoing and emerging research in the area.
· Proteomics of biomolecular interactions in post-mortem skeletal muscles: Biomolecular interactions in post-mortem skeletal muscles influence the properties of muscle as food and contribute to biological variations in meat quality. A multitude of endogenous (i.e., muscle source, lipid oxidation) and exogenous (i.e., stress, diet) factors can affect these interactions in muscle foods. During this presentation Dr. Suman, Association Professor at the University of Kentucky, will examine the applications of proteomic tools to characterize and interpret the fundamental basis of these interactions in fresh meats from livestock and poultry.