NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE ENABLING RESEARCHERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW GENES ARE REGULATED TO PRODUCE TRAITS OF INTEREST FOR LIVESTOCK HEALTH AND PRODUCTION. HOWEVER, IF THIS INFORMATION IS TO BE EFFECTIVELY USED BY ALL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHERS, IT MUST BE LINKED WITH INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THESE GENES DO AND WHEN AND WHERE THEY ARE EXPRESSED. ESTABLISHED WORKFLOWS PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION FOR GENES THAT PRODUCE PROTEINS, AND THIS INFORMATION IS ROUTINELY USED TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF GENE EXPRESSION IN LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, AND INCREASING BODY OF WORK INDICATES THAT GENE EXPRESSION ALONE DOES NOT ACCURATELY DESCRIBE OBSERVED CHARACTERISTICS; RESEARCHERS ARE ROUTINELY IDENTIFYING NEW GENE SETS THAT FUNCTION TO REGULATE AND CO-ORDINATE THE GENES THAT EXPRESS PROTEINS. SINCE THERE ARE NO WORKFLOWS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE REGULATORY GENES, THEIR EFFECTS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN CURRENT APPROACHES TO MODEL HOW GENE EXPRESSION IS ALTERED DURING CHANGES IN GROWTH, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. BY DEVELOPING WORKFLOWS TO PROVIDE THIS MISSING FUNCTIONAL INFORMATION, WE WILL ENABLE LIVESTOCK RESEARCHERS TO MORE ACCURATELY AND PRECISELY UNDERSTAND HOW GENE EXPRESSION CONTRIBUTES TO IMPORTANT PRODUCTION TRAIOST (SUCH AS GROWTH, MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT AND ANIMAL HEALTH). THE INFORMATION THAT WE PROVIDE WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AND DISSEMINATED TO OTHER RESOURCES SO THAT IT CAN BE EASILY INTEGRATED INTO ROUTINE ANALYSES. IN ADDITION, WE WILL ALSO MAKE OUR WORKFLOWS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE SO THAT THESE APPROACHES CAN BE EXTENDED TO OTHER AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT SPECIES.