People are always asking where’s the beef, but never WHO’S THE BEEF?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
For eons, we lacked the technology to tell the genomic difference between wagyu cows and… other cows. Thank god those days are over.
Enter Paulene S. Pineda and team from University of Adelaide in Australia! They compared the DNA of more than twenty Wagyu cows to generate the most complete cattle genome to date!
So, what makes wagyu taste so good? Researchers discovered twenty-five new genes, with many linked to cows’ blood sugar and metabolism. These findings could even shape cow breeding and feeding practices!
And with grocery prices through the roof, the STEAKS have never been higher!
Reference: Pineda, P.S., MacPhillamy, C., Ren, Y. et al. Insights into natural neocentromere evolution from a cattle T2T X chromosome. Nat Commun 16, 10745 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65778-w