USDA Announces Whole Genome Animal Selection Funding

November 16, 2007 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) announced the availability of $5 million in fiscal year 2008 for a four-year research project to investigate methods of using whole genome-enabled animal selection.

This research will enable animal breeders to use genetic information to predict what an animal's physical makeup will be and what genes will be passed to the next generation. Whole genome-enabled animal selection is a technique that scans the animal's genome, the makeup of its DNA and predicts its genetic merit as a potential future parent.

"USDA, along with many federal agencies, states and other organizations, has invested millions of dollars in efforts to sequence the genomes of the primary agricultural animals," said Gale Buchanan, USDA undersecretary for CSREES. "The goal of this project is to move animal genome science from the laboratory to the field and the marketplace and, in the process, solve real world problems."

More information about the whole genome enabled animal selection funding opportunity can be found on the CSREES funding opportunities Web page at www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/animalgenomegenomeenabledselectionnri.cfm.

<< Back