Biotechnological Applications for Sustainable Aquatic Animal Production
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 328
Editors
Interests: conservation; aquatic genetic resources; cryopreservation; biotechnology; fish gametes; sustainable aquaculture
Interests: animal science; reproduction biology; cryopreservation; biotechnology; cell biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Aquatic animal production is expanding rapidly and is crucial for global food security, nutrition, and economic growth. As fisheries reach biological capacity, sustainable aquatic animal farming becomes essential to meet rising protein demand. However, intensification brings disease, environmental, climate, resource, and animal welfare challenges that must be addressed for future growth.
Biotechnology offers essential tools to tackle these pressing challenges and drive sustainable aquatic animal production. Advances in genetics, cellular biology, nutrition, and health management now enable precise improvements in growth, disease resistance, reproduction, stress tolerance, and resilience in aquatic species.
Modern biotechnological applications also support early detection and monitoring of health and environmental conditions through molecular diagnostics and biological indicators, contributing to preventive and precision-based management strategies. Furthermore, the integration of biotechnology with digital and precision production systems—such as biosensors, data analytics, and artificial intelligence—facilitates real-time decision-making and optimized farm management, ultimately reducing environmental impacts and improving animal welfare.
Despite rapid progress, challenges remain in translating biotechnological innovations from laboratory research to commercial-scale production, as well as in validating, standardizing, and regulating these technologies across species and production systems. This Special Issue aims to provide a multidisciplinary platform for high-quality original research and reviews that explore recent advances, practical applications, and future perspectives on the use of biotechnology for sustainable aquatic animal production.
We invite contributions on, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Genetic improvement, selective breeding, and genomic technologies;
- Biomarker-assisted selection and genomic selection;
- Functional genomics and gene expression studies;
- Molecular and cellular biotechnology applications;
- Health management, disease diagnostics, and vaccine development;
- Host–pathogen interactions in aquatic animals;
- Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and microbiome-based approaches;
- Nutritional and feed biotechnologies, including functional feeds;
- Reproductive and developmental biotechnologies;
- Biotechnology-based environmental monitoring and climate resilience;
- Precision and digital technologies applied to aquatic animal production;
- Farm-level and industry-oriented biotechnology applications;
- Regulatory, ethical, and socio-economic aspects of biotechnology use.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Bozkurt
Prof. Dr. Nicolaia Iaffaldano
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- aquatic animal production
- aquaculture biotechnology
- genomics
- molecular biology
- health management
- functional feeds
- precision aquaculture
- sustainability
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