IANR KRVN Interview February 18, 2023

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02/22/2023 Added

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IANR Vic Chancellor Mike Boehm shares information about research into infertility in cows and the applications it might hold in developing treatments for women experiencing similar reproductive issues.

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[00:00:00.600]Time again for our weekly segment, which is focused
[00:00:02.610]on the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
[00:00:05.010]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:00:07.350]Our guest today is Vice President
[00:00:08.970]and Vice Chancellor, Mike Boehm.
[00:00:10.980]Mike, we know as you and I have talked about several times,
[00:00:13.800]Nebraska is the beef state.
[00:00:15.600]And the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[00:00:17.370]has focused research programs
[00:00:19.250]in just about every aspect of beef production,
[00:00:21.960]which includes reproduction.
[00:00:23.700]That is our topic today. So what can you tell us
[00:00:26.010]about some of the research that's happening
[00:00:27.690]within the institute?
[00:00:29.280]Yeah, absolutely.
[00:00:30.270]Thanks, Bryce.
[00:00:31.320]Well, livestock including cattle face significant problems
[00:00:34.800]within infertility, just like people.
[00:00:37.590]This is a very costly issue.
[00:00:39.600]Estimates come in that this costs producers
[00:00:43.080]around 4.7 billion annually,
[00:00:46.260]according to some workout
[00:00:47.550]of the University Florida Extension Service.
[00:00:50.670]It's almost $5 billion a year
[00:00:53.100]just in the beef industry alone.
[00:00:55.470]One reason for infertility is in ovulation,
[00:01:00.900]and this is one of the issues that Dr. Andrea Cupp,
[00:01:04.560]professor in animal science
[00:01:06.960]here at the University of Nebraska,
[00:01:08.910]studying reproductive physiology is working on
[00:01:13.200]with her students and other colleagues.
[00:01:15.643]And that's the topic of our time today.
[00:01:18.840]All right. Well, let's dive into that, Mike.
[00:01:20.250]Tell me more about what Dr. Cupp has been learning
[00:01:22.410]in this area.
[00:01:23.490]Yeah, the cows that Dr. Cupp
[00:01:25.530]and her colleagues are studying
[00:01:27.450]exhibit a variety of symptoms,
[00:01:29.250]including irregular reproductive cycles.
[00:01:32.673]All of these are very specific reasons
[00:01:35.820]why you may end up with infertility in cattle,
[00:01:39.570]and as I mentioned, in other species including humans.
[00:01:43.830]Dr. Cupp and her team
[00:01:44.880]are working to address the fertility issues in cows
[00:01:47.670]that exhibited these symptoms,
[00:01:49.890]and trying to understand, you know,
[00:01:52.110]exactly what's going on in this space.
[00:01:54.870]Specifically, she and her team
[00:01:57.090]are focused on potential ways
[00:01:58.710]to restore proper blood vessel formation in the ovaries,
[00:02:03.420]which is really key to regular cycling,
[00:02:09.990]egg production and release.
[00:02:11.850]They're also, which is really cool, genotyping.
[00:02:14.790]So coming back to the power of genetics and genomics,
[00:02:18.720]they're genotyping cows that both are fertile
[00:02:23.430]and those that are exhibiting infertility
[00:02:25.980]in those specific areas that I mentioned,
[00:02:29.400]to take a look at their DNA sequences
[00:02:31.710]to see if they can figure out
[00:02:33.390]if there's something genetically,
[00:02:35.160]I'm certain there is, we just don't know what it is,
[00:02:38.250]is there something genetically
[00:02:39.540]that's contributing to this variation
[00:02:41.610]in the reproductive characteristics?
[00:02:43.860]And of course, if they can figure that out,
[00:02:46.290]then is it possible to breed cattle
[00:02:49.170]that have a higher degree of fertility,
[00:02:51.360]and avoid challenges and that $5 billion annual loss?
[00:02:56.220]Does that make sense?
[00:02:57.480]Yes, it does.
[00:02:58.313]I'm glad you brought back up that main point
[00:03:00.120]of $4.7 billion annually, according to some estimates,
[00:03:03.540]of this costly issue.
[00:03:05.400]Mike, one of the things that happens in research
[00:03:07.290]as I understand it
[00:03:08.123]is it often leads to unexpected discoveries,
[00:03:10.380]and that was certainly the case here.
[00:03:12.240]Let's talk a little bit about that.
[00:03:14.130]Yeah, well, one of the neat things about Andrea's work
[00:03:16.650]is that it's shared with me,
[00:03:20.563]and I kind of knew this as a biologist,
[00:03:24.480]even though I worked on plants,
[00:03:25.680]is that the bovine and human reproductive systems
[00:03:28.950]are very similar.
[00:03:29.910]So humans and and cattle, very similar.
[00:03:32.550]In fact, Bryce, the symptoms,
[00:03:35.370]the cows with fertility issues
[00:03:38.880]also kind of are the same kinds of things
[00:03:42.120]experienced by women.
[00:03:44.340]And in particular, a type of anovulation
[00:03:49.650]is called polycystic ovarian syndrome, or POC.
[00:03:54.780]As Dr. Cupp and her team looked at their findings,
[00:03:57.330]they wondered if cows actually could be a good model
[00:04:00.990]for infertility research in women.
[00:04:03.690]So they started working with a broad array of team members,
[00:04:07.140]both here and at the University of Nebraska Med Center
[00:04:10.800]to expand their study
[00:04:12.210]to look at both cows and women simultaneously.
[00:04:15.360]And I think this is a really excellent example
[00:04:18.840]of the creative, wide-reaching, interdisciplinary research
[00:04:22.830]that goes on in the institute.
[00:04:25.050]And you know, it's just one of the reasons
[00:04:26.910]I'm so proud to work alongside and be part of IANR,
[00:04:33.180]and get to work with professors like Dr. Cupp
[00:04:37.260]and the team I've mentioned this morning.
[00:04:38.910]But also our staff and our students in IANR
[00:04:41.340]that are pushing envelopes
[00:04:42.570]to solve really important problems,
[00:04:47.460]that not only affect agriculture but human health.
[00:04:52.740]Pretty cool.
[00:04:53.670]Yeah, no doubt about that.
[00:04:54.630]Some pretty neat research happening there
[00:04:55.950]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:04:57.480]We appreciate the time this week,
[00:04:58.680]and as a reminder for our listeners,
[00:05:01.258]you can learn more about all the exciting things
[00:05:03.000]that are happening within the University of Nebraska system
[00:05:06.000]by heading over to the website, ianr.unl.edu.
[00:05:10.080]Here on the Rural Radio Network,
[00:05:11.730]I'm Bryce Doeschot reporting.

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IANR KRVN Interview February 18, 2023

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