In the late 1940s, pharmaceutical companies seeking an additional market for newly achieved antibiotics happened on “growth promoters” – microdoses of antibiotics given to livestock that boosted the animals’ weight, got them to market faster, and jumpstarted profits for both pharma and agriculture. Today, many recognize the growth-promoter effect as a deliberate perturbation of the gut microbiome.
To ensure the global population is food secure, it’s estimated that food production must increase at least 50 percent by 2050. One of the best means to achieve that increase is by boosting yield, that is, producing more food on existing cropland with fewer resources.
With an outbreak of Salmonella illness attributed to backyard poultry flocks in the United States, Penn Vet offers 12 important tips to keep people and their poultry safe this summer.
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price announced the first recipients of the Penn China Research and Engagement Fund (CREF) awards.
