2018 Baker Institute News: Mammary stem cells challenge bovine disease

Abstract

This news item is about: Mastitis is the most expensive disease in the dairy industry. Each clinical case can cost a dairy farmer more than $400 and damages both the cow’s future output as well as her comfort. Bovine mastitis is typically treated with antibiotics, but with the potential threat of antimicrobial resistance and the disease’s long-term harm to the animal’s teat, researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine are laying the foundation for alternative therapies derived from stem cells. “Antibiotics can kill the bugs,” said Gerlinde Van de Walle, the Harry M. Zweig Assistant Professor in Equine Health, “but they don’t help with regeneration of the damaged tissue.”