An international team of scientists has today released a new genomic tool which is set to transform the future selection and breeding of sheep around the world. Called the Ovine SNP50 BeadChip, this cutting-edge tool will enable researchers to characterise the genetic variation at more than 50,000 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) in the sheep genome. This will pinpoint the small genetic differences that produce a variety of commercially important traits in sheep, fast-tracking the rate of genetic gain in the industry. The research has been undertaken by the International Sheep Genomics Consortium (ISGC), a partnership of scientists and funding agencies including AgResearch which is developing a range of publicly available genomic resources. Access to these resources will help researchers find genes associated with traits that are important to their industries. Working in partnership with Illumina, Inc., a global company headquartered in San Diego California, the Ovine SNP50 BeadChip has been made available for use by research groups around the world to identify DNA markers associated with traits such as disease resistance and improved and healthier meat products. According to ISGC Secretary, Dr James Kijas, there has been extremely strong demand for the SNP chip. "The availability of this tool means that researchers have much more power to identify important genes. As a result, initial demand for the chip has been very high."
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