| Improved wool quality and production
efficiency by sheep transgenesis
(Program 5)
Program Manager: Prof George Rogers,
Honorary Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Animal Science, The
University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Glen Osmond, SA
Overview
Wool has many advantages as a textile fibre but compared
with cotton and synthetic fibres its market share is small and under
constant threat from their continuing development. The wool fibre has
certain deficiencies that hamper its ability to compete as a textile
fibre. One of these deficiencies is its inherent weakness. Cotton, silk
and nylon are 2-3 times stronger than wool. One of the ways to increase
the strength of wool would be to alter the composition and internal
molecular structure of the fibre.
Transgenesis allows us to markedly change the composition
and properties of the fibre in ways that are not possible by breeding
methods. It requires the microinjection of DNA carrying the chosen gene
into fertilised eggs and the application of many skills, namely molecular
biology for the isolation of genes, cell biology for the development of
cell and follicle culture for the pre-testing of genes, reproductive
biology and animal husbandry. This technology, by specifically targeting
the expression of selected genes to the wool follicles, can alter sheep
genotypes and phenotypes in respect of many physical characteristics of
wool and has the potential for enormous economic benefit in the wool
industry.
Australia's first ever cloned sheep, named Matilda, was unveiled by the South Australian Research & Development Institute
(SARDI). The Program Manager of Program 5 in the Cooperative Research Centre for Premium Quality Wool Professor George Rogers was a key player in the cloning project. Commonwealth Funding for the project was through the Wool CRC.
|
