Glowing plants, shining meat and self-doctoring cows – organisms as biosensors
Just when you thought you have seen everything in the way of genetic manipulation of farm plants and animals, science takes another giant leap forward. The latest jump is in using living cells and...
View ArticleThe lungworm’s genome may spell R-E-L-I-E-F for the coughing cow
On the heels of last month’s sequencing of the cattle tick’s genome comes the report of a draft genome for lungworm, Dictyocaulus viviparous. This is good news for producers of dairy and meat from...
View ArticleFeed Frenzy: Genome Alberta Dairy Project Breeds Excitement
As plausible concepts go, “getting more for less” is right up there with the chocolate diet: Too good to be true. But a notable exception is the Genome Alberta research project “Increasing feed...
View ArticleResearchers advance in genetic defense against deadly African Swine Fever
Researchers have made strong headway in defending pigs against the deadly African Swine Fever (ASF). Less than one third of pigs that catch the disease survive and it is highly contagious. The...
View ArticleGenomics Project Beefs up Cattle Quality and Efficiency
If that “where’s the beef?” lady Clara Peller was alive today, and held a PhD in Animal Genetics and Biochemistry, she might ask a different question: “How can we develop and apply more accurate...
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Genome Alberta Study on Expectant Gilts: Pregnant with Potential
For most human moms, pregnancy means morning sickness, weight gain and irrational cravings for pickles. But with pregnant pigs, the real pickle is that diseases like PRRSV (Porcine Reproductive &...
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Methane Emission Genome Project Measures Up “Down Under”
For humans, burps are like convicts: We only worry about them when they escape. In dairy cattle, though, burps are the focus of some cutting edge research, and for good reason. A prime example is the...
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Bringing back Europe’s wild beef
In the final scenes of JRR Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, a besieged Boromir makes a desperate call for help by blowing on the Horn of Gondor, a sound that was said to have echoed over 100 miles to...
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Go Green or Go Home: Genome Alberta is on an Emission Mission
As that renowned philosopher Kermit the Frog once said: “It’s not easy being green”. It’s even harder with Miss Piggy breathing down your neck, but for a real challenge, try greening the planet with...
View ArticleNew farm math: Calculating feed amounts based on a sheep’s genetics
Farmers are reducing herd sizes because raising sheep isn’t as profitable as it once was. But now sheep farmers are using actual genetically-based animal needs in their calculations to lower costs and...
View ArticleProtecting Pigs and Profits with Genomics Technology
With humans, illness may just keep us home from work for a day or two (or three if we still have sick time to use). For pigs on the other hand, disease is often debilitating or fatal, and too much...
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It looks like a mutant, but this may be the corn of our future
As a kid that grew up among the seemingly endless fields of cash crops in southwestern Ontario, I spent a good amount of time wandering between rows of corn, usually enroute to a favourite pear tree...
View ArticleEU breeders urge lawmakers to follow Canada on gene editing oversight
The European Commission appears to be stalling on making a decision on whether gene-edited organisms are the same as genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and thus should be regulated the same or...
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Genome Alberta Milks Hi-Tech Tools to Breed Better Bovines
To the layperson, spectroscopy sounds like an operation that leaves you walking funny. But in reality, the potential of this technology and the data it produces to assist in cutting edge research is no...
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Bottom Line is Top of Mind for Genome Cattle Project
As evidenced by an Austrian study on the nature of navel fluff, not all research has practical application. Fortunately, the team behind a new Genome Alberta project has little use for navel gazing. In...
View ArticleOverlooked upside to GMOs could help save millions of humans lives
In the ongoing public debate over the safety of genetically-modified foods, including livestock and the foods they feed upon, few stop to think how genetically-modified foods might actually save...
View ArticleGenome Project Seeks the Low Down on High Health Pigs
Have you ever taken great pains to avoid a cold, only to be the target of a co-worker’s germs? Imagine how a pig feels. Not only are they vulnerable to a number of diseases, but their buddies won’t...
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Overlooked upside to GMOs could help save millions of lives
Saving us from widespread famine is in itself a solid reason for pursuing genetic modifications of organisms in our food chain. After all, avoiding famine and disease is a big part of the reasoning...
View ArticleDolly’s sister sheep clones reveal new insights and options
Dolly the Sheep was as cloned from a single cell from a sheep’s udder and made in a test tube in Scotland back in 1996. Oh, there was a righteous worldwide uproar at the time. There were lots of people...
View ArticlePig Researchers Hope for Macro Results with Microbiomes
The guts to succeed Leading the study of microbiomes at the microscopic level is Dr. Ben Willing, an Assistant Professor with the University of Alberta, and Canada Research Chair in Microbiology of...
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