Agrigenomics Blog Posts

According to Dr. Alastair Hamilton, a leading researcher in aquaculture genomics, breeding for disease resistance has been one of the tremendous successes in aquaculture made possible by genomic breeding programs. As an addition to aquaculture genomics tools, Dr. Hamilton collaborated with research partners and Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip.

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Worldwide, consumer preference for and consumption of aquatic species is increasing. New guidelines from the American Heart Association cement the importance of eating fish to help protect heart health, and around 16% of animal protein eaten globally in 2009 came from fish and shellfish. This increase puts pressure on the aquaculture industry to meet the market’s demands.

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Bringing Genomics to Cats and Dogs: An Interview with Dr. Angela Burrell

With the advent of advanced technologies like Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), the application of targeted genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) for breeding and selection in agriculture has become common. An emerging frontier in Agrigenomics is improving the breeding of dogs, cats and other companion animals using modern scientific knowledge and next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. Animal parentage testing has evolved from blood typing to genotyping of short tandem repeats, which is transitioning to targeted GBS of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

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Medical research uses many model organisms, and dogs are one of them. Canine research is an important part of many research and testing laboratories, as dogs are particularly well-suited to addressing certain questions relevant to human diseases and behavioral patterns.

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Advancements in genomic technologies are accelerating breeding programs by enabling higher-throughput genotyping across large populations. For example, targeted GBS (genotyping by sequencing) solutions help breeders leverage the power and insights available from next-generation sequencing (NGS) in a cost effective way. NGS delivers plant & animal genotypes at a low cost per sample with high throughput. Accessing data from these tools produce data quickly—typically within three days—so breeding programs of all types benefit from rapid decision-making.

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Genetic testing technology is advancing rapidly. Tools such as the AgriSeq targeted solutions from the Thermo Fisher Scientific agrigenomics portfolio accelerate genomic breeding decisions by offering high-throughput accurate data on individual animal value.  Breeders and producers can capitalize on these advances by focusing on specific herd needs to select economically relevant traits (ERTs) to improve animal value and profitability.

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You’re probably aware that advances in genomic technology already reduce time and cost in molecular breeding programs. High-throughput analysis in larger populations accelerates genotyping results into real-world applications, and bar coding samples is one of the approaches currently in use. However, if you’re struggling to understand how bar coding can help maximize efficiencies in your molecular breeding programs for agriculture, Thermo Fisher R&D scientist Michelle Swimley can help.

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Agrigenomics is an emerging and ever-more-important field of biology, linking the examination of entire genomes to agricultural outcomes that can affect the lives of vast populations of people. Thermo Fisher Scientific is at the forefront of animal and plant genomics tools, design and data collection, in particular via its Axiom Genotyping Solution, AgriSeq targeted genotyping by sequencing (GBS) and associated services.

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Biology is a complex and expensive endeavor. As molecular biology and genomics become a bigger and bigger part of answering biology’s questions, the tools and expertise needed to move forward become ever more specialized. It can be challenging to determine whether to seek that expertise from laboratory service providers, or to build it in-house. Neither approach is always the right answer, and the best option depends on one’s circumstances.

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Agrigenomics continues to drive sustainable productivity. Bringing modern genetics and genomic tools to bear on problems of agriculture has already led to improvements, from selective poultry breeding to the evolution of new varieties of more nutritionally complete rice to combat blindness in developing countries. The Applied Biosystems Axiom Genotyping Solution for agrigenomics provides breeders and researchers with powerful genotyping tools to identify, validate and screen complex genetic traits in plants and animals to fulfill research and breeding objectives.

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