Category: Farm Animals

New doctoral thesis on sheep genetic diversity

Genetic diversity and population structure of Swedish sheep breeds was studied using pedigree data and molecular genetic information. Both pedigree information and microsatellite genotypes showed that inbreeding has been successfully managed in the ancient Gute sheep breed, despite it being...

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New book release

A newly published book Genomic management of animal genetic diversity (ed. Kor Oldenbroek) describes the use of genomic technology to define breeds, to measure diversity and to assess important features in the history of breeds affecting the present genetic diversity....

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Three leader sheep in brown and white colours looking into the camera.

Leader sheep in Iceland

The Icelandic leader sheep has been known to exist in Iceland ever since the settlement of the country over 1100 years ago. The Icelandic leader sheep is considered as a subpopulation within the Icelandic sheep. In the middle of the...

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Swedish Action Plan updated

Sweden has updated its national action plan for the conservation of farm animal genetic resources. The document (in Swedish only) can be found on the website of the Swedish Board of Agriculture. 

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Successful grazing conference

NordGen in collaboration with the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland arranged a 3-day multi-disciplinary conference on grazing in a changing Nordic region, September 12-15 in Reykjavik, Iceland. The conference gathered together 98 participants from 17 different countries. The focus of...

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Genetic rescue of Norwegian Lundehund

An article published in the Finnish Kennel Club’s magazine “Koiramme” (9/2016) describes the history, characteristics and challenges of the highly endangered lundehund population. Several severe bottlenecks in the history of the Lundehund have resulted in a severe loss of genetic...

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New technology breaks the code of the old livestock breeds

Researchers from Aarhus University’s Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics mapped the old livestock breeds’ relationships with each other and with breeds abroad, the structure of breeds and their genomic inbreeding degrees. Results are described in the report ‘Old Danish...

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Successful OCS workshop at Hafjell

The OCS workshop arranged by NordGen 6th-10th of June at Hafjell, Norway was a success. To maximize the learning experience of all participants, the workshop was divided into two parts: introductory and advanced. “Part I – Introductory” included lectures on...

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Cryopreservation of Finnhorse semen

Finnhorse is the only native horse breed in Finland. It has a long history and is an an invaluable part of the Finnish cultural and historical heritage. The hardworking Finnhorse was used in agriculture and forestry, and it bravely served...

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Native Swedish chicken breeds

Although these breeds have probably gone through severe bottlenecks, they still express high phenotypic variation, e.g. in body size and plumage colour. Genetic variation and relatedness of the Swedish local chicken breeds had to date not been investigated. Three molecular...

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