Symposium to honour UNE geneticist

September 20, 2007

A scientific symposium at the University of New England tomorrow and Saturday (September 21 and 22) will discuss how to maintain the general fitness of livestock while undertaking breeding programs to enhance specific characteristics.

The symposium, "Adaptation and Fitness in Animals", is in honour of UNE's Emeritus Professor Stuart Barker, who has played a leading role in the application of fundamental genetic principles to animal breeding. Professor Barker (pictured here) has been able to apply his experimental genetic work with the fruit fly to the breeding of cattle, sheep and pigs. Armidale is now home to one of the world’s best scientific groups in animal breeding and genetics, and its researchers continue to deliver selection tools to cattle, pig and sheep breeders.

Scientists from UNE have invited a number of eminent researchers from around the world to talk about the fundamental principles of genetic variation and adaptation among animals in natural populations. They will discuss how modern livestock breeding programs can learn from these principles, enabling them to maintain sustainable breeding programs in which the fitness and welfare of animals are not undermined.

UNE's Professor Julius van der Werf, one of the organisers of the symposium, said: "Animal breeders have been very successful in their selection methods. Dairy cows are now much more productive, sheep produce better wool, and cattle and lambs grow faster with improved meat quality. Selection, however, can also affect animals' fitness. This symposium explores the fitness of livestock, how it is affected by today’s breeding programs, and how modern breeding programs can accommodate fitness in their objectives."

"Genetic variation enables a population to adapt – and thus survive – in the face of environmental change," he continued. "Maintaining enough variation and diversity is an essential component of modern breeding programs."

During the symposium, geneticists from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Arizona will present their ideas on how animal populations maintain their fitness. Professor Richard Frankham from Macquarie University will discuss the fundamental basis of fitness of animal populations, and Professor Kathleen Donohue from Harvard University will focus on mechanisms that plant populations use to adapt to environmental changes. Scientists from France will talk about the work that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has done on the conservation of populations of farm animals.

The symposium, which is sponsored by Meat and Livestock Australia and the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, will be held just before the 17th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics (23-26 September) at UNE.

For more information on the symposium, contact Professor Julius van der Werf on (02) 6773 2092.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 20, 2007 11:13 AM