Biotechnology Industry Organization, 1992. To help prevent these losses, animal scientists are using biotechnology to develop an array of products to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease in farm animals. An area where animal biotechnology has already had a profound impact is diagnostic testing.
Many animal diseases are difficult to diagnose.
A veterinarian often has to wait hours or days for laboratory results to confirm a diagnosis. In the meantime, the veterinarian must either withhold treatment or risk using an inappropriate therapy. Using biotechnology, scientists are developing fast, accurate diagnostic tests for many of the most common farm animal diseases. In some cases, a veterinarian can conduct the diagnostic tests right on the farm and immediately start the best therapy. Many of these new tests use monoclonal antibodies .