Pig Genome Update No. 46angenmap@db.genome.iastate.eduJanuary 1, 2001 |
The National Swine Improvement Federation celebrated its Silver (25th) anniversary in Nashville, Tennessee. A large crowd of swine breeders, producers, scientists and company personnel met and discussed both the history, the progress and the future of swine breeding. The first session included talks from industry leaders, Dale Miller (National Hog Farmer), Glenn Connaster (University of Tennessee) and Wayne Robison (NC State University) about how far NSIF has come in helping to produce leaner pigs and develop genetic improvement programs. A future glimpse of technology and market trends was provided by John Webb (Cotswold) and Roger Campbell (BMI). The second day featured talks on bioinformatics (Jeff Veenhuizen, Monsanto), genetic programs (Roger Campbell), litter size selection progress (Rodger Johnson, University of Nebraska; Christian Lecour, Multigene; Tom Long, NPD), selection for AI studs (Todd See, NC State) and biotechnology and the consumer (Guy Prall, PIC). Finally, a talk on candidate genes and gene mapping was provided by the graduate student award winner, Rebbeca Emnett from Ohio State University. An additional feature this year was a poster session for research abstracts. A special thanks goes to the organizers of this year's meeting from the University of Tennessee for the excellent program, great venue and an excellent evening of entertainment on a local river boat. It is likely that this year's papers will be on the web at the NSIF web page.
New opportunities exist for competitive grants for 2001. The announcement of the 2001 USDA NRI Competitive Grants Program has been posted at www.reeusda.gov/nri and the deadline for the Animal Genome and Genetic Mechanisms program is Feb. 15, 2001. Swine geneticists are strongly encouraged to apply! Please note that standard grants of usually no more than $300,000 total costs are available again this year. The bad news, however, is that the section for Basic Reagents and Tools has been withdrawn.
Sad news hits the gene mapping community. Dr. Ann Bowling passed away December 8, 2000 after suffering a massive stroke the previous day and from which she never regained consciousness. Ann was a faculty member at the University of California Davis and a leader in the area of equine genetics research. During her career she taught undergraduate, graduate and professional students, advised horse breeders in the area of genetics and published scientific papers in the areas of blood groups, biochemical genetics, parentage testing, coat color genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics and genomics. Ann recently published a reference book entitled Horse Genetics and served as co-editor on a comprehensive review entitled Genetics of the Horse. She was an active leader in the scientific community, frequently chairing committees for the International Society of Animal Genetics and organizing meetings. Ann's joy at discovering new facets of horse genetics was exceeded only by the joy her family brought to her. A public memorial service is being planned for sometime in January. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that people contribute to the Ann T. Bowling Scholarship Fund for Equine Genetics. This scholarship in memory of Ann will be awarded to a DVM student or post-graduate student who is interested in pursuing a career in equine genetics. Contributions may be sent to: Dr. Ann T. Bowling Scholarship Fund for Equine Genetics, Office of Development, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Shields Avenue, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 (kindly provided by E. Bailey).
The Plant & Animal Genome IX (PAG-IX) and the NRSP-8 meetings are this month!!!!! PAG-IX will be at the Town & Country Convention Center in San Diego, CA (www.towncountry.com) on Jan. 14-17, 2001. The meeting program is really shaping up to be an exciting one. Sunday will be the swine genome workshop and Dr. Cathy Ernst has planed an interesting program (http://www.intl-pag.org/pag/swine.html ). Registration information can be found at http://www.intl-pag.org . Some funds may exist to support travel of qualified US pig genome participants. Please contact me at mfrothsc@iastate.edu if you are in need of some support. All questions on the conference can be directed towards Scherago International at pag@schherago.com .
Need a roommate for PAGIX? We have helped to set up a room sharing board on the web. For information please go to http://www.genome.iastate.edu/community/service/roomshare.html .
Upcoming meetings (for more details see: http://www.genome.iastate.edu/community/meetings.html )
Plant and Animal Genome IX, joint with the NAGRP annual meetings, January 14-17, 2001, Town & Country Convention Center, San Diego, CA. See: http://www.intl-pag.org/ .
Gordon Research Conference on Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, February 18-23, Ventura, California. Contact for general information on attending a Gordon Conference: http://www.grc.uri.edu/attend.htm or for online conference application: http://www.grc.uri.edu/apply1.htm .
Additional items can be found at: http://www.agbiotechnet.com/calendar/index.asp .
Let me extend a special year-end thanks to all of you who have helped in the last year with the pig gene mapping project. The suggestions, ideas and information have really helped to make this activity easier and more useful. It is my hope that all of you have a happy holiday season and that the New Year brings with it good health, happiness and blessings for you, your families and friends.
Items for Pig Genome Update 47 can be sent to me by no later than February 10 please.
Max Rothschild U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator 2255 Kildee Hall, Department of Animal Science Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011 Phone: 515-294-6202, Fax: 515-294-2401 mfrothsc@iastate.edu
cc: Dick Frahm, CSREES and Roger Gerrits, ARS
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