Dear Reader,


Welcome to 2020’s final edition of our newsletter.


In this issue we’ll share our latest vacancies, blog posts, feature articles and news about:

  • Our latest animal research award 
  • Sustainable fish farming 
  • Chlorinated chicken 
  • Antimicrobial resistance 
  • Sewage tests for Covid-19 outbreaks 
  • Reducing plastic waste 
  • A costly poultry virus 
  • Breeding for disease resilience 


We hope you enjoy reading it and we invite you to share it with your colleagues.


Best wishes and happy holidays,

The Roslin Communications Team

 

14 December

Research supports sustainable growth in fish farming

Developments in genetics are helping to meet the challenge of producing farmed fish and shellfish, to provide nourishment to many. Investigating genetic resistance to disease is a useful approach that can help improve the health of farmed populations. Selective breeding combined with genomic tools can complement the use of vaccination, while also reducing reliance on vaccines. Read more

Welfare concerns raised over chlorinated chicken

Washing chicken meat in chlorinated water is a common practice in the US, to ensure that meat is safe to eat. The approach is widely opposed in the UK and is banned by the European Union, because it could potentially mask poor standards of hygiene and welfare. Researchers are seeking way to manage disease through good standards of hygiene and welfare. Read more

Novel strategies to combat livestock diseases

The rise of antimicrobial resistance among animals, people and the environment is recognised as one of the greatest threats to global healthcare. Roslin scientists are playing a part in meeting the challenge by learning how to breed animals that are better equipped to resist disease, understanding what happens when infection occurs, and investigating innate and vaccine-based immunity. Read more

Our latest 'Meet Our Scientists' interviews cover career paths, ambitions and challenges. Read more

Sewage signals early warning of Covid-19 outbreaks

Fragments of coronavirus have been detected in wastewater samples across the UK, in projects designed to enable early warning of local outbreaks of Covid-19 infection. The approach, developed with support from Roslin scientists, tests for genetic material from coronavirus in wastewater. Most people infected with the virus are believed to shed it in their faeces even if they have no symptoms, so wastewater analysis can help identify local outbreaks ahead of rising hospital admissions. Read more


In the news: Glasgow Evening Times, Southern Reporter, Edinburgh News

Schools project honoured with animal research award 

A project led by the Roslin Institute to support teachers in educating children about science was recognised at the annual Openness Awards, organised by Understanding Animal Research. The free toolkit, called Opening a Can of Worms, is designed for teachers of pupils aged 9-14 years old to download and use in classrooms, with a series of simple, pupil-guided experiments with earthworms. It has reached more than 13,000 people globally. The award follows recognition of the University of Edinburgh as a Leader in Openness, in light of its efforts to improve transparency around the use of animals in research. Read more

Sustainable lab scheme cuts plastic waste and costs

A new approach could reduce plastic waste in a laboratory by more than 500kg a year and result in considerable savings, scientists at the Roslin Institute found.  A scheme based on plastic reduction and reuse has resulted in savings of more than £400 over a three-month period. Other labs worldwide could adopt similar measures to reduce plastic waste, researchers suggest. Read more

Gene findings could help treat costly poultry virus

Scientists have identified genes strongly associated with resistance to a virus that causes cancer in poultry and costs the global poultry industry more than US$2bn a year. The study, relating to the highly contagious Marek’s disease virus, provides a large number of potential targets for future therapies or techniques to manage the disease. Findings from the analysis also reveal details about the biology behind susceptibility to the virus, which could lead to more precise selective breeding strategies. Read more


In the news: Farming UK, The Poultry Site, MRCVS

Breeding for disease resilience is cost-effective

Breeding animals for disease resilience would be three times more profitable than breeding based on production traits, according to a study by scientists from Roslin and pig breeding company PIC. Improved statistical methods to quantify how animals respond to infection, and to what extent this is controlled by genes that give rise to these traits, pave the way towards selective breeding for optimum disease resilience. Their approach could help limit the cost of infectious diseases in livestock production. Read more


In the news: The Pig Site, National Hog Farmer

Click on the title of the event to know more 

Owing to the current pandemic, most recruitment is suspended, but the following roles are available.

Job Title

Salary

Closing date

Research Fellow in Quantitative Genetics/Genome Editing

£33,797 - £40,322

5 January

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – host-response genomics for Covid-19

£33,797 - £40,322

5 January

Research Fellow – disease resistance in aquaculture

£33,797 - £40,322

8 January

Research Fellow - Aquaculture

£33,797 - £40,322

11 January

                                                                                 

Do you have colleagues who would like to receive this news digest? They can subscribe via this link.

http://www.ed.ac.uk/roslin

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

If you no longer wish to receive emails from us then please unsubscribe or amend your settings.