She’s no Bruce Springsteen, just a new low-fat milk producing Bossey called Marge

by William Atkins

Thursday, 31 May 2007

New Zealand scientists have found a milk cow with a genetic mutation (a special type of gene) that provides low-fat milk naturally. They are breeding her in order to produce offspring that also make low-fat milk.

Marge, a Friesian cow, was discovered when personnel from the biotechnology company ViaLactia (Auckland, New Zealand) were screening for milk with herds spread across New Zealand. A Friesian (or Holstein-Friesian) cow is a breed of Holstein diary cow, only smaller and heavier.

The website of ViaLactia is: http://www.vialactia.com/.

In addition, Marge produces milk that is lower in saturated fat, so that butter produced isn’t hard but spreadable. Such milk should also be high in the good fats of monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturates. It is also high in omega-3 oils, which is touted as being good for the heart and brain.

In five years of breeding, Marge has produced female calves that also make low-fat milk. The scientists are now trying to produce a sire (male calf) that contains the low-fat milk producing gene.

Scientists with the 109-million-dollar (U.S.) research project are hoping to produce a commercial herd of low-fat milk producing cows by the year 2011. Currently, the New Zealand milk company called Fonterra already is using Marge’s and her offspring's milk for its customers.

Milk experts claim that such cows could “revolutionize” the milking industry. The work performed by the researchers is reported this week in the magazine Chemistry & Industry, produced by the Society of Chemical Industry. Its website is: http://www.chemind.org/CI/index.jsp.

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