Nanotechnology for animal production

Nanotechnology, one of the most promising technologies, is well known for its pervasiveness in several diverse fields, including agro-food industry. With this presentation, we will show how nanotechnology is peeping in the animal production world and the improvements that will originate from this liaison. Nanotechnology focuses currently on the use of nanomaterials. It is generally accepted that a nanomaterial is a material having at least one dimension on the scale of 100 nanometers or less. Nanomaterials can be nanoscale in one dimension (e.g. films), two dimensions (e.g. fibers and tubes) or three dimensions (e.g. particles). These nanomaterials will help in the management of diseases with antibacterial nanostructured surfaces that will control pathogens, or with the nanodelivery of veterinary products (drugs and vaccines) to the farmed animals. Bio-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles will allow sperm selection to generate the desired gender. Water will be filtered more efficiently with nanostructured filters or it will be treated with nanoparticles that are capable to selectively remove toxicants, and pathogens in the water will be detected by nanosensors. Nanotechnology can be used also for feed supplementation with the idea that nanosized components could be more bioavailable than their bulk counterparts. The agro-food industry has recently developed several of such systems for the delivery of nutrients, but their application to aquaculture is still scarce. In this context, we have evaluated diets supplemented with nanoparticles of essential metals such as iron zinc and selenium and observed an influence in survival rate and grow performance as well as an effect on the expression of genes involved in trace mineral intestinal absorptions, bone formation and oxidative stress response. In spite of the potential benefits that nanotechnology offers to the animal production industry and more in general to the agrifood sector, little is known on the safety aspects of this technology. Therefore, studies aimed at the improvement and implementation of nanotechnological applications should be paralleled by studies on risk assessment.