Our team’s new research featured on the cover of Nature Reviews Genetics. 20/07/2020 The Roslin Institute’s aquaculture team has led a new review article highlighting the value of genomics research to aquaculture. This article—“Harnessing genomics to fast-track genetic improvement in aquaculture”—is the product of hard work and close collaboration across the team, with contributions from Group Leaders Ross Houston, Tim Bean, Dan Macqueen and Diego Robledo, together with insights provided by postdoctoral research fellows Yehwa Jin and Manu Kumar Gundappa. Image “It is exciting to work in the fast-growing aquaculture sector where the advances in genomics and genome editing technologies highlighted in this review are resulting in new research opportunities, and ultimately improvement in production,” says Yehwa. “We are working on improving genome editing in cell lines and fish embryos to help understand disease resistance, and move this research forward.” Yehwa helped optimise CRISPR editing of several cell lines from salmonid fish as part of the AquaLeap project, in work that is also available as a preprint publication. “Ultimately these approaches can help identify favourable disease resistance alleles which can be applied in breeding programmes.” The newer article appeared in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Genetics and was chosen as one of the review’s cover features. It addresses the ways in which genetic improvement, undertaken through breeding programmes, can help to meet the rising demand for seafood (as driven by population growth). With such a range of diverse species now in the early stages of domestication, advances in bioinformatics and sequencing as well as new technologies such as genome editing can reinforce the sustainable growth of aquaculture worldwide. “It was a great experience to work alongside experts in the field,” remarks Manu. “The review will undoubtedly serve as a blueprint and roadmap for aquaculture geneticists. Considering the unprecedented advances in the field of aquaculture and genomics, its release is well timed!” The team is delighted to see their research feature so prominently in Nature Reviews, and enjoyed the opportunity to work together alongside experts from the Universities of Aberdeen, Stirling, and Exeter on the publication. Congratulations to all involved in the publication of this review article! The article brief and access options for its entirety are available through this external link to the Nature Reviews Website. You can learn more about our aquaculture team and the activities of our scientists via the People page. You can learn more about our team's work with ribonucleoprotein complexes via this external article link. You can access another article on efficient salmonid genome editing through this external link to BioMed Central. This research is an output of the BBSRC-NERC project AquaLeap. More information on the project can be found through this external PDF link.
