The Frankeston Red is a genetically improved bovine cattle, its creation focus was for it to be a dual-purpose cattle to be used as both dairy and beef cattle.
History of the breed
The Frankeston Red is the first breed of cattle in the world created in the 21st Century by the scientist director of the Frankeston project, Dr. Francisco A. Restom Bitar; a specialist in human and animal genetics, and his team at the Bovine Genetic Experimental Center Remanso Caribe (Centro de Experimentación Genética Bovina Remanso Caribe in Spanish) located in the municipality of Arjona, Colombia, in the vicinity of Cartagena de Indias.
Restom started his genetic experiments in the middle of the year 1984, combining strategic and orderly in vivo chromosomes the native races x Cebu with semen of purebreds and their subsequent mating inter se to create the Frankeston breed, a cattle race biologically adapted for adverse conditions of the warm tropics, capable of producing more milk and more meat (dual purpose), surpassing not only the performance of every other breed, but also of crossed foreign cattle throughout the Caribbean region.
The scientist published his work during the first quarter of 2001 and the breed was officially introduced by the end of 2003 in the III Scientific Convention of the University of Cartagena, an institution that through a cooperation agreement evaluated in situ the last 3 years of research and endorsed the results of the work done with the breed.
This breed was born from a desperate search for a sustainable and profitable solution to the repeated failure of foreign cattle to produce properly in the region due to the environmental conditions of the tropics, and their indiscriminate use in crosses carried out without control, without order, goals, or scientific studies throughout history.
It is a new biotype of dual-purpose bovine (milk and meat), more efficient and biologically resistant to heat, high solar radiation, and tropical diseases. A breed created to lessen the ecological and economic cost that has represented Colombia's needs to import genetic material, incalculable losses due to productivity, and progressive deterioration of farmers in the society.
The work has also been successfully submitted in other conventions such as the First Congress and V Scientific Convention of the University of Panama (2004), and III International Congress and IV National Congress of Human Genetics at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia (2004).
The creation of the Frankeston breed has been a long and complex work and has required the application of the scientific method, mathematics, planning, and execution. All of them adjusted to the principles and laws of genetics.
Methodology
In each of the stages of crosses to achieve genetic recombination that gave rise to the F1, F2, F3 and F4 and following, the scientist carried out biometric analysis, he confronted the development and general biological behavior of animals, and verified that the best genes of adaptation, milk and meat production, were inheriting from the different races and through gene interaction of them, had created the prototype which was planned based on the best phenotypic features of its predecessors, constituting, finally, the Frankeston race.
Once the prototype was obtained, the scientist proceeded to do successive chromosomal recombination inter se, in other words, to mate female and male Frankeston to form the F5, F6, etc.
That way the new breed consolidated the traits pursued throughout the investigation, indicating that the genes have been set by the phenomenon of interbreeding that allowed a genetic linkage resulting in the creation of the new breed Frankeston.
Racial pattern
In the coat or fur of the race is the predominant red colour
(95%). This allows filtering UV rays protecting the animal of solar erythema. It is covered by hair very short and fine, a quality of cattle adapted to the tropics. Dewlap of regular size, wrinkled and gently attached. Hump of medium size in the bulls and superficial in females. Height at wither medium. Body enlarged with fine bones, compact and balanced. Its dorsal line is straight and strong. Good thoracic depth. Very good limbs, provided with strong, high, and pigmented hooves, very suitable to withstand humidity and long journeys.
The sire is very vigorous, masculine, and very sexually active. Testicles are very well shaped and of good size. And the cow's mammary system has a glandular udder, good size, quite firm and well irrigated.