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Applied Biotechnologies Group
Objective
To understand the plant and animal genomes central to our pastoral
industries and apply this knowledge to improve the global
competitiveness of our existing industries, while also developing
completely new livestock-based and plant-derived products and
technologies, including human health applications.
Why we are here
Livestock industries have long been a cornerstone of New Zealand’s
export earnings.
Enhancing the global competitiveness of the sheep, dairy, beef and
deer industries is vital to helping ensure the long-term viability
of these key livestock production systems. Underpinning these
industries is the efficient production and grazing of forage plants.
Plant research at Grasslands has a proud history in developing and
commercialising new plant cultivars and supporting technologies
(e.g. the AR1 endophyte) for both New Zealand and international
markets. The Grasslanz subsidiary provides these with a clear path
to market.
Genomics and reproduction technologies have brought exciting ways to
decipher and manipulate livestock and forage plant genetics and
biology in ways not previously possible with conventional breeding
techniques. This in turn has led to a need for increasingly
sophisticated and powerful bioinformatics tools to manage and mine
the growing wealth of information around the plant and animal
genomes.
Our scientific expertise in these areas offers opportunities to not
only improve the efficiency of existing livestock production
systems, but also lead to a new generation of livestock-based and
plant-derived products and technologies. The large degree of
commonality between livestock and human genomes also allows us to
leverage off our understanding of livestock genomes to develop human
biomedical solutions.
What we do
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Discover and
understand genes in plants and endophytes, providing a strong
base to leverage off new product opportunities.
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Apply plant
functional genomics knowledge for novel developments, such as
plant biomembrane technologies.
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Discover and
characterise the clover and ryegrass genomes.
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Develop improved
ryegrasses, clovers and endophyte products, including plants for
environmental management.
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Identify key
genes responsible for superior productivity of elite livestock,
allowing breeders and industry to screen for superior animals
and use them preferentially in breeding programmes and supply
chains.
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Develop genomic
technologies such as transgenics and cloning, offering potential
for step changes in genetic improvement (as versus incremental
improvements by traditional methods of animal selection and
breeding).
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Determine the
underlying mechanisms of muscle growth and wasting and apply
this knowledge to both livestock production and human health
therapies.
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Understand the
biological processes controlling wool and hair growth and
develop ways to exploit these.
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Apply
understanding of reproduction to generate novel solutions for
enhancing livestock fertility, management of wildlife pests and
contraception in humans.
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Develop and
manage bioinformatics tools to facilitate this research.
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Develop mathematical
models to aid scientific understanding and business
decision-making in complex systems within genomics, physiology,
ecology, agro-ecosystems and agribusiness value chains.
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Extract, identify and
characterise valuable bioactives from deer antler velvet.
Our capabilities
Functional genomics, molecular biology, metabolomics, biotechnology,
transgenics, cloning, reproductive technologies, genetic mapping,
germplasm libraries, bioinformatics, forages, endophytes, livestock
genomes, animal science, cultivar development, quantitative
genetics. |
