2 March 1998
Expert
panel to help decide future Wool CRC transgenic sheep research program
Internationally-recognised scientists in the field of
animal production research from the United States, United Kingdom, New
Zealand and Australia will meet at the University of Adelaide's Waite
Campus, 18-20 March, to review sheep transgenesis as a livestock gene
technology. The importance of this technology in future wool research and
development is one of the crucial issues to be addressed at the Adelaide
forum.
The panel members will be Professor John Hearle, from
Manchester, an authority on fibre structure and properties; Professor John
Shine, Research Director from the Garvan Medical Research Institute in
Sydney whose background is molecular biology; Dr Allan Pearson, an expert
in wool biology and wool growth from New Zealand's AgResearch Institute;
and Dr Vernon Pursel, a senior scientist of the United States' Department
of Agriculture, who is recognised as an international authority in
transgenesis for livestock production by all who work in the field,
including the Edindurgh chapter who produced the sheep, 'Dolly'. The
review will be chaired by former Wool CRC Director, Professor Laurie
Piper, from CSIRO's Animal Production Division.
"It is vital to have the opinion of an expert panel on
the direction and quality of the research so far conducted in our
transgenesis program and the appropriateness of its present focus for
R&D in wool for the future", said Professor George Rogers from
Adelaide University and Manager of the Wool CRC's transgenesis program.
The main theme of the Wool CRC's transgenic sheep program
is to produce wool with improved properties such as fibre strength by
introducing extra wool-type genes into the follicles. This is being done
by 'transgenesis', a process in which a single gene is transferred into
the chromosomes of the sheep by microinjection of a piece of DNA into
fertilized sheep's eggs.
The panel will review the appropriateness of transgenesis
for improving wool production, wool quality and the competitiveness of
wool in the fibre market in the long term; decide whether the program is
choosing the best gene combinations for achieving the desired transgenic
sheep outcomes; review the techniques of gene manipulation used in the
program; and decide if sheep transgenesis is a vital gene technology for
improving the wool fibre's properties.
The Wool CRC is a joint venture in research and education
between Australian woolgrowers (through The Woolmark Company), CSIRO
Divisions of Animal Production and Wool Technology, Agriculture Western
Australia and the Universities of Western Australia, New England, New
South Wales and Adelaide. It was established under the Australian
Government's Cooperative Research Centres program which was set up to
boost the competitiveness of Australian industry by strengthening
collaborative research links between industry, research organisations,
educational institutions and relevant government agencies. By bringing
expertise from these areas together to address specific research
priorities, the wool CRC is assisting industry update its technological
skills and processes. And through its training programs, it is also
helping produce graduates who are more in tune with industry needs.
Media contacts - Wool CRC
Prof George Rogers (Program
Manager) 08-8303-6543
Dr Lionel Ward
(Director) 03-9416-5180
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