Advances in utrigenomics By Kelly S. Swanson, PhD The latest information on the science that combines genetics and nutrition and how it can be used to develop companion animal diets
Intake Weight
Figure 1. Study of feline
weight changes after spay/neuter
According to Dr. Swanson’s research, after a cat is spayed its energy and homeostasis are
altered, which has a direct effect on weight gain in the animal.
140
5
120
Average Food Intake (g)
100
80
60
40
20
4. 5
4
3. 5
Weight (kg)
3
2. 5
0
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Week
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THE MOLECULAR AGE is upon
us, creating exciting opportunities in the
petfood industry. Genome sequence data,
high-throughput functional genomics
assays and nanotools have several applications to pet health and the petfood
industry. Such technology may be used
to expand ingredient options (e.g., items
enriched in functional nutrients), for
petfood testing (e.g., contamination of
microbes or toxins, identification of ingredient origin, detection of GMOs) or for
molecular-based animal research. Genomic
biology may be used to gain a better
understanding of dog and cat physiology
and how nutrition contributes to health and
disease. Because this last point will argu-ably have the greatest impact on pet health
