Infrastructure

Infrastructure and expertise at the Engineering Biology Hub for Future Farmed Animals

Long-term investment from the BBSRC has enabled the creation of world-class infrastructure at the Engineering Biology Hub, providing the foundation to transform livestock research and innovation. Our facilities include specialist animal units, advanced imaging platforms, high-throughput sequencing, and dedicated cell culture laboratories, all designed to accelerate discovery and application in farmed animal biology.

This infrastructure underpins expertise across our key capability areas:

  • Target Discovery and Validation: Genome-wide and targeted CRISPR/Cas9 screens in livestock species, and AI-driven modelling of large genomic datasets to identify and validate causal variants.
  • Tractable In Vitro Models: Development of cell-based systems, 3D tissue cultures, and organoids that represent complex phenotypes across livestock species, including gene-editing-ready cellular models.
  • Reproductive Technologies: Tools to accelerate genetic improvement, including embryo transfer protocols for livestock and pioneering sterile surrogate host chicken lines for efficient breeding.
  • Genome Engineering: Expertise in gene editing and transgenesis across a range of farmed animals, the development of next-generation editing tools, and high-throughput phenotyping platforms to assess outcomes.

For a full list of our facilities, see below.

 

 

Large Animal Research and Imaging Facility (LARIF)Facility with advanced imaging (3T MRI, CT, fluoroscopy, ultrasound), surgical, critical care, gene-editing, and containment capabilities for research using large farm animals such as pigs, sheep, cattle, and horses.
National Avian Research Facility (NARF)A high-health-status facility, providing flexible avian housing and expertise in transgenics and genome engineering in poultry, maintaining flocks of standard breeds as well as gene-edited and transgenic chicken lines available for researchers.
Research AquariaFreshwater and marine facility, supporting research on health, disease, and early-life stages of farmed aquatic species, with hatchery, grow-out, disease-challenge systems, and gene-editing expertise.
BioinformaticsSupports high-performance computing access, data processing, gene expression and sequence analysis (including single-cell and spatial transcriptomics), genome annotation, bespoke database tools, and comprehensive training.
Genomics PlatformProvides tailored library preparations for single-cell and single-nuclei RNA sequencing, supports long-read sequencing via a Nanopore GridION, offers automated DNA/RNA extraction.
Proteomics and Metabolomics FacilityOffers mass spectrometry, using advanced LC‑MS instrumentation and specialist expertise, to characterise proteomes and metabolomes.
Bioimaging, Cell Sorting and Flow CytometryOffers microscopy (standard, fluorescence, laser‑scanning confocal, multiphoton, live‑cell), optical projection tomography, imaging software, and cell sorting/flow cytometry systems.
Edinburgh GenomicsGenomics and bioinformatics facility delivering high-volume, high-quality sequencing and analysis services, using platforms like NovaSeq, PacBio, and Oxford Nanopore (King’s Buildings campus).
Edinburgh Genome Foundry (EGF)The world’s largest automated DNA assembly platform. We can help you design and plan your next high-throughput project, using our expertise in lab automation, DNA assembly and cloning strategies (King’s Buildings campus).

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