ALES swine researchers are partnering with their colleagues from China's leading agricultural university to create a world-leading swine genomics research centre.
The Swine Genomics Excellence Centre, established last January between ALES and China Agricultural University, will seek ways to improve the quality of pork meat.
Pork is the most popular animal protein in China and the second most consumed meat in Canada.
Swine researchers from both institutions are internationally-recognized for excellence.
"There is a long history of China selecting genetics from Canada and this is an opportunity for us to build on this existing interaction and to think about pig breeding for the future," said Graham Plastow, the academic lead on the new centre.
The Chinese university, located near Beijing, is its country's foremost school for agricultural and life sciences. Its animal breeding and genetics group is pioneering research in statistical and molecular genomics.
"The piece we bring to that is we're one of the world's leading genomic laboratories," said Plastow, who is also CEO of the ALES-based Livestock Gentec, which brings commercial benefits of genomics to the livestock industry. "We combine DNA technology with quantitative technology to create more targeted improvements."
Immediate objectives of the new joint research centre are to find ways of identifying genes that explain susceptibility to disease, said Plastow.
"It appears that Chinese pigs might have genes that enable the pigs to better fight disease," he said.
Plastow is also excited about opportunities to create a new line of pigs that would combine the best qualities of western and Chinese pork. Chinese pigs have far bigger litters than western pigs, he said, but their system is very inefficient at production.
"They grow longer and eat more. So we're interested in how to design a production system that will enable us to deliver high quality pork at a lower cost."
Meanwhile, Zhiquan Wang and Jianfeng Liu, the two principle investigators from ALES and CAU respectively, have already been working together to refine and optimize statistical tools used to identify genomic effects and apply them in animal breeding.
The joint research centre affords ALES the ability to increase the number of stellar students it can attract to this field.
"We're particularly interested in China for genetics because it's a numerical science," said Plastow. "They have a big talent pool for (those) who are mathematically focused."
Seed money for the new centre was provided by the China Institute and new funding opportunities are now being explored.
The Swine Genomics Excellence Centre, established last January between ALES and China Agricultural University, will seek ways to improve the quality of pork meat.
Pork is the most popular animal protein in China and the second most consumed meat in Canada.
Swine researchers from both institutions are internationally-recognized for excellence.
"There is a long history of China selecting genetics from Canada and this is an opportunity for us to build on this existing interaction and to think about pig breeding for the future," said Graham Plastow, the academic lead on the new centre.
The Chinese university, located near Beijing, is its country's foremost school for agricultural and life sciences. Its animal breeding and genetics group is pioneering research in statistical and molecular genomics.
"The piece we bring to that is we're one of the world's leading genomic laboratories," said Plastow, who is also CEO of the ALES-based Livestock Gentec, which brings commercial benefits of genomics to the livestock industry. "We combine DNA technology with quantitative technology to create more targeted improvements."
Immediate objectives of the new joint research centre are to find ways of identifying genes that explain susceptibility to disease, said Plastow.
"It appears that Chinese pigs might have genes that enable the pigs to better fight disease," he said.
Plastow is also excited about opportunities to create a new line of pigs that would combine the best qualities of western and Chinese pork. Chinese pigs have far bigger litters than western pigs, he said, but their system is very inefficient at production.
"They grow longer and eat more. So we're interested in how to design a production system that will enable us to deliver high quality pork at a lower cost."
Meanwhile, Zhiquan Wang and Jianfeng Liu, the two principle investigators from ALES and CAU respectively, have already been working together to refine and optimize statistical tools used to identify genomic effects and apply them in animal breeding.
The joint research centre affords ALES the ability to increase the number of stellar students it can attract to this field.
"We're particularly interested in China for genetics because it's a numerical science," said Plastow. "They have a big talent pool for (those) who are mathematically focused."
Seed money for the new centre was provided by the China Institute and new funding opportunities are now being explored.