An artist's rendering shows the planned Animal Bioscience Complex.

Researchers and students at Montana State University will soon be working to make scenarios like those a distinct possibility. University officials are hoping that two new buildings planned to be built starting in 2008 will facilitate such cutting-edge developments in agriculture.

By identifying genes and gene groupings in animals, researchers at the new Animal Bioscience Complex will work to unlock the genetic information needed to efficiently and consistently produce safe and high-quality meat.

Fund-raising is underway for the teaching facility, and MSU officials say the two-building complex will be a boon for researchers, students and community members alike.

"It's a win-win for everyone here," said Sandra Germann, director of development for the College of Agriculture.

That's because the opportunities the complex enables will in turn produce knowledge for ranchers and producers. Together, the two buildings, which will be located near Eleventh Avenue. and the Plant Growth Center, will provide a comprehensive approach to animal and range sciences research and teaching.

Consisting of a $12.5-million privately funded teaching facility and a $24-million federally funded research building, the complex will provide research for Montana and the nation, Germann explained.

As a partnership among the MSU College of Agriculture, the United States Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service, the Livestock and Range Research Laboratory at Miles City and the U.S. Meat Animal Research Facility at Clay Center, Neb., the research building will offer state-of-the-art facilities for multiple users. It's also expected to create new opportunities for grants and partnerships in academia and should increase the competitiveness of Montana's livestock industry, officials said.

The teaching facility's high-tech classrooms and distance learning capabilities are being touted as a way to improve educational opportunities for both MSU students and other people off-campus. For example, the outreach capabilities of the teaching facility will ensure that both students and producers are kept abreast of functional genetics research, said Jim Peterson, the college's interim associate dean for development.

In addition, the complex will bring about 30 new jobs to MSU and should be helpful in attracting top-notch students and scientists, Germann said.

With Montana as a national leader in seed stock production and the university as a leader in genomics research, MSU was a natural choice for the complex, though several other states also vied for the facility.

Of the $12.5 million needed for the teaching facility, more than $8.9 million has been raised to date. The complex is scheduled to be completed by 2010 or earlier.

Once the buildings are finished and the students and researchers go to work, it could mean big changes for cattle and range-livestock industries.

"If they can breed for things like feed efficiency genes, it will mean a lot of money for the producers," Germann said.

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