Greater collaboration needed to adopt innovation on farm
Addressing the barriers to adoption of research and innovation on farm was the topic of an Animal Task Force meeting recently. The seminar in Brussels focused on innovating for a productive and sustainable livestock sector, with key speakers from across Europe. Innovation has the potential to significantly boost production on European livestock farms, whilst taking […]
Caution urged over new Swedish milk study
Following the publication of a new study conducted by Swedish researchers on the association between milk consumption and health, Dr Anne Mullen, Director of The Dairy Council, issued the following statement: “Scientists, including the authors of this research, vehemently warn that observational studies such as this showed be viewed with caution. On one hand the […]
New Monogastric Science Research Centre launched in Scotland
Scotland’s Rural College has launched a new Monogastric Science Research Centre. The Centre will be a focus for the College’s work on pigs and poultry, in particular bringing together vital research on nutrition. Monogastric refers to animal species which have a stomach with just a single chamber (compared to ruminant animals such as cows and […]
TGAC leads research to help identify animal-to-human transmitted diseases
The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) will lead research into the development of bioinformatics to support the identification and characterisation of viruses through metagenomics. The BBSRC-funded research, led by TGAC’s Dr Richard Leggett, aims to develop computational algorithms that can accurately assemble viral genomes contained within metagenomic samples. These microbial samples pose a challenge to researchers […]
Increasing fibre crops market advantageous for EU and China
The market for flax and hemp fibres is shrinking so much that the disappearance of just one party in the manufacturing chain could threaten many other parties in this industry. The report ‘Markets for fibre crops in EU and China’ contains an analysis of the opportunities and threats in the international fibre crop market by […]
First of its kind research funded by McDonald’s UK reveals hen smothering affects half of all commercial flocks
McDonald’s UK has unveiled the results of new research quantifying the impact of hen smothering in the UK, as it launches a major new TV advertising campaign to shine a light on the care taken by the British and Irish farmers that supply free-range eggs for its UK menu. Funded by McDonald’s as part of […]
TGAC help improve grass-crop harvests by completing genome sequence of model bacterium
TGAC, together with the Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto (UNRC) and Instituto de Agrobiotecnologica Rossario (INDEAR), Argentina, plus other European partners have completed the genome sequence of the model strain of the soil bacterium, Azospirillum brasilense Az39, to improve plant health and nutrition in agriculture. The soil bacterium, isolated from wheat roots in the central […]
Genetically engineered fruit flies could save crops
Releasing genetically engineered fruit flies into the wild could prove to be a cheap, effective and environmentally friendly way of pest control according to scientists at the University of East Anglia and Oxford Insect Technologies (Oxitec). New research published today reveals how the release of genetically engineered male flies could be used as an effective population suppression method […]
How plants grow and develop
How does a complete plant with stems, leafs and flowers develop from a tiny clump of seemingly identical cells? For a very long time, the mechanism of tissue formation in plants remained unclear. The biochemists from Wageningen University also would not have come up with the answer if it wasn’t for their model building colleagues […]
