Category Archives: Genetics

Genetics

Exploring the wonders of molecular biology – Drug Target Review

In this episode, we explore our understanding of DNA and its implications for health outcomes. Additionally, we discuss the transition from DNA sequencing to actionable insights in medicine, contrasting genetics-driven drug discovery with traditional methods. Finally, we examine the evolving landscape of genetic technology and its potential impact on the future of medicine.

Bringing their expertise, we are thrilled to introduce Dr Matthew Nelson, Vice President, Genetics and Genomics, Deerfield Discovery and Development and CEO at Genscience and Dr Jake Rubens, President of Quotient Therapeutics and Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering.

This podcast is in association with Molecular Devices. With its innovative life science technology, Molecular Devices makes scientific breakthroughs possible for academic, pharmaceutical, government and biotech customers. Head tomoleculardevices.comto find out more.

About the speakers

Dr Matthew Nelson

Vice President, Genetics and Genomics, Deerfield Discovery and Development and CEO at Genscience

Matthew Nelson, Ph.D., is a Vice President, Genetics and Genomics, Deerfield Discovery and Development, and joined the firm in 2019. He is also Chief Executive Officer of Deerfields affiliate, Genscience, a tech-focused company to improve integration of genetic evidence into drug discovery. Prior to joining Deerfield in 2019, Dr Nelson spent almost 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline and was most recently the Head of Genetics. Prior to GlaxoSmithKline, Dr Nelson was the Director of Biostatistics at Sequenom. He is co-author on >80 publications, including several cited >1,000 times. He began his career as an information scientist at Esperion Therapeutics. Dr Nelson was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina from 2010 to 2016. He holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics and an M.A. in Statistics from the University of Michigan and obtained his B.S. in Molecular Biology from Brigham Young University.

Dr Jacob Rubens

President of Quotient Therapeutics and Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering

Jacob is the president of Quotient and an Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering. He is a scientist entrepreneur and leads a team that founds, builds, and grows companies based on new biotechnology.

At Flagship, Jake co-founded Sana Biotechnology and Tessera Therapeutics, and launched Kaleido Biosciences. In addition to his role at Quotient,Jake is the chief innovation officer and founding chief scientific officer at Tessera, where he led research from2018through2021. Previously, Jake was the head of innovation at Cobalt Biomedicine, where he co-invented and developed the companys Fusosome platform prior to its merger with Sana Biotechnology.

Before joining Flagship, Jake received his PhD in microbiology fromMIT, working in the Synthetic Biology Center with Professor Tim Lu with the support of aNational Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. AtMIT, Jake invented gene circuits that allow engineered cells to do novel analog, digital, and hybrid computations, enabling the emerging field of intelligent cell therapies.

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Exploring the wonders of molecular biology - Drug Target Review

Genetics

30 Years After Genetic Discovery, Huntingtons Patients Still Waiting – BioSpace

Pictured: a collage of genetic indicators surrounding a patient with Huntingtons disease/ Nicole Bean for BioSpace

Its 100 percent fatal, hits patients in the prime of their lives, then gets passed down to 50 percent of the next generation. Thirty years after the discovery of the huntingtin gene, the biopharma industry is still searching for an effective treatment for Huntingtons disease.

Within the past few years, Roche and Wave Life Sciences have experienced high-profile failures in the space, and in late 2022, Triplet Therapeutics, a young startup with an approach targeting Huntingtons and other genetic diseases, closed its doors, and precision genetics medicine biotech NeuBase Therapeutics halted development of its Huntingtons program.

Symptomatic treatments exist for Huntingtons disease, which is caused by a CAG repeat in the first exon of the huntingtin (HTT) gene, but to date, no disease-modifying drug has made it across the finish line.

Rudolph Rudy Tanzi was part of the team that identified the Huntingtons gene chromosome in 1983. At the dawn of the genomic revolution, it was the first gene to be mapped to a human chromosome without any prior indication of the genes location. You had no idea what chromosome it was on, you had no idea what the protein defect was, Tanzi, now a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, told BioSpace. The search, which Tanzi compared to looking for 12 pieces of hay in 23 haystacks, took two years.

Instrumental to the discovery was a large group of patients in Venezuela. Huntingtons disease was evident in more than 12 families in this country, each with 10 or 11 children, Tanzi said. Once we had [those families], we tested that same DNA marker from chromosome 4, and that sealed it . . . . It was clear wed found the gene.

Ten years later, the pathogenic mutation in the huntingtin gene was identified as a CAG-repeat expansion. This mutation causes brain cells to die, leading to a host of progressive cognitive, psychiatric and movement disorders.

Theres been a lot of progress on mechanism, said Michael Hayden, CEO and founder of Prilenia Therapeutics, who was also involved in early linkage studies. Prilenia is developing treatments for Huntingtons and other neurodegenerative diseases. But . . . from the time you define mechanism to the time you have a drug can take twenty years.

Thirty years on, the search for a disease-modifying drug for Huntingtons continues.

After discovering the genetic driver for Huntingtons, researchers delved into the roles of the healthy and mutant HTT proteinsbiology that Paul Bolno, president and CEO of Wave Life Sciences, said has been interesting. We really realized that Huntingtons disease, in a lot of ways, is both a toxic gain of function and a toxic loss of function.

One challenge, Hayden told BioSpace, is that gene-silencing therapies, such as Roches tominersen, also knocked down the wildtype HTT (wtHTT) protein, which may be neuroprotective.

The pan-silencing hypothesis holds that there is a therapeutic window in which it is possible to reduce mutant HTT (mHTT) protein and concomitantly not reduce the wildtype HTT protein and keep that balance, explained Anne-Marie Li-Kwai-Cheung, Waves chief development officer, who previously led the tominersen efforts at Roche.

In a pan-silencing approach, you are succeeding, hopefully, in taking down the toxic protein, she told BioSpace. But the other half of the disease, which is a toxic loss of function, is that the wildtype [HTT] that you inevitably take out at the same time is actually really essential.

The question, Hayden posed, is would it not be better to have an allele-specific knockdown? This is the approach being taken by Wave. The companys next-generation antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) WVE-003 is designed to preferentially lower mHTT protein levels by targeting a single nucleotide polymorphism that appears on the mHTT transcript.

It is possible theres a therapeutic window, but if you can approach the problem more elegantly by being selective, that is by far the better approach in my opinion, Li-Kwai-Cheung said.

Delivery can also be a challenge, Hayden said. Intrathecal treatments, which are administered into the spinal canal, can also fail because you may not get target engagement or sufficient target engagement because you have to get from the CSF all the way deep into the center of the brain, Hayden said.

This was the case with Waves first-generation ASOs, according to the companys then chief medical officer, Michael Panzara.

Bolno believes Wave has solved this issue with WVE-003 in the form of a chemical modification to its platform. The PN chemistry weve been using . . . has really transformed what weve seen not just in terms of exposure [and] target engagement but durability, he said.

In September 2022, Wave presented data from the Phase Ib/IIa SELECT-HD trial showing a mean decrease in mHTT from baseline of 22% at 85 days. The mean reduction relative to placebo was 35% at 85 days after a single 30 mg or 60 mg. The company expects to share data from the 30 mg multi-dose cohort this quarter.

Prilenia is taking still another approach with pridopidine, a pill containing what the company describes as a highly selective and potent agonist of the sigma-1 receptor (S1R) protein, which is highly expressed in the brain and spinal cord and regulates several key processes that are commonly impaired in various neurodegenerative diseases.

Last month at the 75th American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, Prilenia shared that pridopidine missed the primary endpoint, change from baseline compared to placebo at 65 weeks as measured by the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale-Total Functional Capacity score, in the Phase III PROOF-HD study. The drug also failed the key secondary endpoint, measured by the Composite Unified Huntingtons Disease Rating Scale.

Still, Hayden is optimistic as effects on both of these measures were reduced by the use of concomitant medications, according to the companys press release. A prespecified analysis that excluded participants taking neuroleptics and chorea medications showed clinically meaningful and nominally significant benefits with pridopidine.

When we looked then at those off of anti-dopaminergics [which includes neuroleptics], then we got a very different picture, Hayden said. In terms of total functional capacity, these patients remained stable for at least a year, and in terms of motor function and cognition, we saw improvement, he said. That was exciting because no [Huntingtons] drug had ever shown improvement in any of these functions.

Hayden additionally noted that the pridopidine is completely safe. There were no serious adverse events, and its . . . easy to take. When you look at risk-benefit, there is no risk and essentially patientsnot everybody, but many patientsderive benefit.

On the strength of these data, European regulators have encouraged Prilenia to submit a Marketing Authorization Application for approval, Hayden said, which the company plans to do by the end of July.

Its taken a long time, Hayden said, but the good news now is that Huntingtons disease has attracted the attention of pharma and biotech, big and small . . . and its recognized, sadly, that this is a disease that has been described as the worst disease known.

Li-Kwai-Cheung predicted there would be a disease-modifying therapy for Huntingtons within 5 to 10 years. Sometimes people get this feeling of like, its just futile and were not going to get there. But I dont think thats true, she said. I think all of these experiments have served a purpose to move the field forwards, and we really are on like the cusp as a field of getting a therapeutic to the market in [Huntingtons disease].

And once that happens, Weve seen in lots of different neurological spaces that that first approval really acts as an incredible catalyst and more drugs come after that as well.

Heather McKenzie is a senior editor atBioSpace. You can reach her atheather.mckenzie@biospace.com. Also follow her onLinkedIn.

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30 Years After Genetic Discovery, Huntingtons Patients Still Waiting - BioSpace

Genetics

Genetic research: possibilities and risks Exaudi – Exaudi

The Bioethics Observatory of the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) invites an in-depth analysis of genetic research at the conference Genetic research: possibilities and risks. An approach from bioethics. This event, which will take place on July 4, 2024, at the UCV San Juan y San Vicente headquarters (18 Jorge Juan Street), will bring together experts from various fields to explore the ethical implications of scientific advances in this area.

In-person attendance at the congress requires prior registration, but the possibility of following it online will also be offered through the following link: https://youtube.com/live/.

The advancement of genetic research constitutes one of the spearheads of biomedical sciences and opens up enormous application possibilities in the fields of bioengineering, editing, and gene therapies. In parallel, with the development of these new tools, new bioethical dilemmas arise related to their fields of application, their safety and effectiveness, and regulation and control needs that urgently need to be addressed.

In our congress we propose a scientific approach to the current state of genetic research, analyzing the most recent evidence, such as that related to epigenetic processes, the therapeutic applications of the editing processes and obtaining mini human organs through bioengineering procedures, the aspects ethics of the heritability of potential changes and the need for ethical and legal regulation of related practices.

A prestigious team of expert researchers in each of these areas will provide us with updated access to this evidence that allows its bioethical assessment based on scientific rigor.

It is aimed at researchers, teachers, students and anyone with an interest in the field of Bioethics, and especially in genetics.

REGISTRATION HERE

PROGRAM

10:00. Institutional inauguration

10:15. Round Table: Epigenetics and genome editing: A scientific update

Ethics and epigenetics.

Luis Franco. Full member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain and the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Valencian Community. University of Valencia.

10:45. Genome editing. Therapeutic advances and bioethical uncertainties.

Nicolas Jouve. Emeritus Professor of Genetics, former member of the Bioethics Committee of Spain.

11:15. Colloquium

Moderator:Luca Gmez Tatay. Professor of cell biology, biochemistry and bioethics. Catholic University of Valencia.

11:30. Coffee Break

12:00. Round Table: Bioengineering and gene therapy

Deciphering the potential of human mini-organs in the laboratory through ethics and bioengineering.

Nria Montserrat. ICREA research professor and principal researcher at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).

12:30. Advances in the therapeutic application of gene editing systems based on CRISPR. Juan Roberto Rodrguez-Madoz. Researcher of the Hemato-Oncology Program. TOP. University of Navarra.

13:00. Colloquium.

Moderator:Jos Miguel Hernndez Andreu. Professor and researcher of biochemistry and molecular biology. Catholic University of Valencia.

16:15. Round Table: Ethical limits in genetic manipulation

Heritable gene editing in humans and future generations.

Vicente Bellver. Professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Valencia. President of the Bioethics Committee of the Valencian Community.

16:45. Regulating gene editing: principles versus rules.

Federico de Montalvo. Vice Chancellor of Institutional Relations and Secretary General of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas.

17:15. Gene editing: what should really scare us?

igo De Miguel. Research Group of the Chair of Law and Human Genome of the Department of Public Law. University of the Basque Country Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea.

17:45. Colloquium

Moderator:Mara Jos Salar. Coordinator of the Philosophy Degree. Professor at the Faculty of Economic and Social Legal Sciences of the Catholic University of Valencia.

18:00. Closure. Mr. Julio Tudela. Director of the Bioethics Observatory of the Catholic University of Valencia.

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Genetic research: possibilities and risks Exaudi - Exaudi

Genetics

Study shows effect of ‘interaction’ on epigenetic marking in… – Parkinson’s News Today

Genetic variations along with exposure to environmental factors, such as pesticides, may increase Parkinsons disease in a sex-dependent manner, a study of French farmworkers suggests.

Most cases of Parkinsons disease dont arise from a single factor, but rather a combination of a persons genes, lifestyle, and what theyre exposed to in the environment, Michael Kobor, PhD, who co-led the study from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, said in a university press release.

Studies like ours provide building blocks for investigation of personalized risk profiles for Parkinsons disease and biomarkers for earlier diagnosis, said Samantha Schaffner, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at UBCs Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging, who noted that, while its too early to know if the findings will hold true when looking at larger pools of data, in the future, [scientists] may be able to estimate someones risk level based on their sex, genetics and lifestyle, and provide tailored guidance on prevention.

The study, Genetic variation and pesticide exposure influence blood DNA methylation signatures in females with early-stage Parkinsons disease, was published in npj Parkinsons disease by Kobors team in collaboration with researchers in France.

How Parkinsons starts is unclear, but growing evidence points to how genetics and a number of environmental factors, such as breathing in or having contact with pesticides, may come together to cause the disease.

While there has been a great deal of research into each of these factors on their own, we have a limited understanding of how they interact with each other, said Kobor, a Canada research chair in social epigenetics, who is leading efforts to establish a link between genetics and pesticide exposure. Were working to bring these pieces of the puzzle together to gain a better understanding of how Parkinsons develops, whos most at risk, and how we can prevent it.

The study included 71 people with early-stage Parkinsons and 147 people without it who were enrolled with TERRE, a health database of French agricultural workers that contains a detailed history of pesticide exposure.

People exposed to pesticides used in farming are at a higher risk for developing Parkinsons and those who live or work near areas with higher levels of certain pesticides are more likely to see their symptoms get worse faster.

Here, the researchers focused on DNA methylation and how its patterns change in women versus men with Parkinsons. In DNA methylation, chemical marks on DNA can indicate whether genes are turned on or off, that is, how the information in genes is used by cells without changing the genetic code itself.

After scanning more than 42,000 regions of DNA from blood samples, the researchers found that DNA methylation linked to early-stage Parkinsons was spread across 69 regions in women and only two in men.

In women, DNA methylation mapped to genes related to cell signaling, protein production, and ion transport. In men, those epigenetic changes mapped to genes related to protein breakdown or recycling and the transport of ions within cells.

To validate their findings in women, the researchers downloaded the PEG1 (GSE111629) and SGPD (GSE145361) datasets from a public database. They found a significant match in DNA methylation between TERRE and PEG1 along with a French database called DIGPD, but not between TERRE and SGPD.

For 48 of the 69 regions targeted by DNA methylation in women, genetics alone provided the best explanation for the epigenetic changes previously attributed to Parkinsons, but pesticide exposure also contributed, especially when it interacted with genetic factors.

These findings highlight the complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, Schaffner said. Having certain genetic variations may only increase Parkinsons disease risk in the context of an environmental exposure like pesticides, and they might have a sex-dependent effect on risk.

While this study may help lead to a more personalized approach to Parkinsons based on a persons genetic makeup, the findings should be further explored in larger study populations and in experimental systems, preferably with precise measures of exposure, the researchers said.

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Study shows effect of 'interaction' on epigenetic marking in... - Parkinson's News Today

Genetics

The same genetic mutations behind gorillas’ small penises may hinder fertility in men – Livescience.com

Silverback gorillas are famous for their impressive, bulging physiques and their rather modest genitalia. Now, scientists have uncovered a potential genetic link between these apes' small members and infertility problems in male humans.

Coming in at just 1.1 inches (3 centimeters) long, on average, the penis of the adult male gorilla (Gorilla) is the smallest phallus of all apes. The gorilla's genital size comes with other deficits in its reproductive capacity, such as low sperm count compared to other primates, and sperm with poor motility and a diminished ability to bind to eggs.

Given that these are reproductive issues that can also affect humans, it may seem surprising that all male gorillas share these traits. However, this can be explained by gorillas' mating system, said Jacob Bowman, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University at Buffalo.

Gorillas operate in a polygynous system, in which a dominant male has near-exclusive access to females in his troop. The silverback's unwieldy physique means it has no problem securing mates, and thus, its sperm doesn't have to compete with that of other males and it can produce offspring without many, highly motile swimmers. The theory is that this lack of sperm competition led to the evolution of gorillas' small genitalia.

Related: Move over, Viagra this spider's boner-inducing venom could treat people let down by the blue pill

This got researchers "wondering if, at a genetic level, we can find genes associated with spermatogenesis [sperm production] or that we see leading to poor-quality sperm," Bowman told Live Science. Gorillas and humans share the vast majority of the same genes so if the researchers could pinpoint suspect genes in gorillas, they could next turn their attention to the human genome.

Roughly 15% of U.S. couples have trouble conceiving, according to Yale Medicine, and more than half of those cases involve male infertility. Around 30% of infertility cases have a genetic basis, said Vincent Straub, a doctoral student in population health at the University of Oxford who was not involved in the new study. However, the genes involved in male infertility are poorly understood.

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To help unravel those genetics, Bowman and colleagues combed through a database of more than 13,000 genes across 261 mammals. This involved looking at genes' underlying sequences, to see how they changed over time in related animals. The aim was to see if certain genes in the gorilla branch of the tree of life were evolving at dramatically reduced rates, Bowman said.

This can happen when there isn't strong pressure to get rid of genetic mutations that could hinder a population's survival such as those related to gorillas' low-quality sperm. This process, called "relaxed purifying selection," can result in seemingly harmful mutations becoming common in a species.

The data turned up 578 genes in the gorilla lineage that underwent this type of selection. An analysis and existing data suggested that many of these genes are involved in making sperm. However, not all the flagged genes had known roles in male fertility.

To better understand these genes' functions, the team turned to the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), a commonly used genetic model in biology. They systematically silenced each of the genes in male flies to see if they affected the insects' ability to reproduce. In this way, they uncovered 41 new genes that hadn't previously been tied to male fertility.

The researchers then connected the dots back to humans using a genetic database with data from 2,100 men with infertility, who either had very low amounts or a lack of sperm in their semen. They also looked at data from fertile men, focusing on the genes they'd flagged in gorillas. They found that, in 109 of relaxed gorilla genes, the infertile men carried more loss-of-function mutations than did fertile men; loss-of-function mutations reduce a gene's ability to make the protein it codes for.

While it's likely these genes are involved in human male fertility, more research is needed to learn exactly how they work in the body. Straub emphasized that infertility is very complex, and that not all of it comes down to genetics. To fully understand it, scientists need to account for how different genes interact with one another and with an organism's environment and its behavior.

The findings drawn from gorillas open the door to future explorations about how these genes, and others closely associated with them, might influence fertility in people, Straub said. The study was published May 9 in the journal eLife.

Ever wonder why some people build muscle more easily than others or why freckles come out in the sun? Send us your questions about how the human body works to community@livescience.com with the subject line "Health Desk Q," and you may see your question answered on the website!

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The same genetic mutations behind gorillas' small penises may hinder fertility in men - Livescience.com

Genetics

Genetics reveals surprising origin of the German cockroach – Cosmos

The German cockroach lurks in human homes, cities, and structures worldwide. You wont find it crawling through natural habitats its entirely domesticated.

The pest species, Blattella germanica, was first recorded in central Europe about 250 years ago. But its origin and spread has remained a mystery until now.

But a team of researchers has now confirmed the species evolved from the Asian cockroach Blattella asahinaiabout 2,100 years ago and probably did this by adapting to human settlements in India or Myanmar.

We found that the sequence for the German cockroach was almost identical to that of B. asahinai, a species native to the Bay of Bengal, from east India to Bangladesh and into Myanmar, says Theo Evans of the University of Western Australia, who co-authored the study published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Genomic analysis of DNA collected from 281 cockroaches, from 17 countries across 6 continents, revealed 2 routes through which the species spread across the globe.

We found an early spread route around 1,200 years ago, which was from eastern India westwards, likely from increasing trade and military activities of the Islamic Umayyad or Abbasid Caliphates, says Evans.

The next spread route was eastwards around 390 years ago into the Indonesia archipelago, likely facilitated by various European East India Companies.These companies traded spices, tea, cotton and other products within South and Southeast Asia, and back to Europe.

We estimated that German cockroaches arrived in Europe about 270 years ago, which matches the historical records from the Seven Years War. From Europe the German cockroach spread to the rest of the world, around 120 years ago, probably from faster transportation on steam ships.

B. germanica grows to about 1.1-1.6 centimetres long and varies in colouration from tan to almost black. They are omnivorous scavengers attracted to meats, starches, sugars and fatty foods.

To survive, cockroaches have to avoid being seen by humans. German cockroaches have evolved to be nocturnal, avoid open spaces, and although it retained its wings it has stopped flying, says Evans.

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Genetics reveals surprising origin of the German cockroach - Cosmos

Genetics

Optimizing genetics to advance controlled environment agriculture – AgriLife Today – AgriLife Today

Texas A&M AgriLife is adding crucial expertise to help guide future innovations in controlled environment horticulture as the burgeoning field continues to evolve.

Krishna Bhattarai, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant breeder for controlled environment horticulture and assistant professor, has joined the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Horticultural Sciences. His research uses genetics and genomics to develop new horticulture crop cultivars specifically for controlled environment production.

Bhattarais research will be performed at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas.

Amit Dhingra, Ph.D., head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, said Bhattarais hiring is a major step forward for the controlled environment horticulture program. He said technological advances have spurred much of the burgeoning fields momentum, and Bhattarais arrival and focus on optimization of plant genetics in these systems comes at a critical time.

Dhingra said he believes the next step in the evolution of controlled environment horticulture is cohesion between plant genetics and the grow systems they support. The idea is not only to optimize yields but also focus on other cultivar characteristics like nutritional density and growth habit as well as aesthetics and flavor.

Daniel Leskovar, Ph.D., director at the Dallas center, said Bhattarais hire resulted from the strategic plan and vision of the controlled environment horticulture program at Texas A&M AgriLife.

His expertise in plant breeding and phenotyping tools will provide very valuable synergy to our growing CEH multidisciplinary programs at Texas A&M University, he said.

Specifically, his expertise in plant breeding and genetics focused on developing new fruits and vegetable cultivars with improved resource use of efficient traits, disease and abiotic stress resistance, and with high nutritional and sensorial quality will ultimately benefit consumers, as well as the controlled environment growers and industry.

The controlled environment program at the Dallas center includes small-acreage/urban horticulturists, Joe Masabni, Ph.D., and Genhua Niu, Ph.D., both professors in the Department of Horticultural Sciences; Azlan Zahid, agriculture engineer from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and entomologist, Arash Kheirodin, Ph.D., in the Department of Entomology. The team also includes Shuyang Zhen, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, College Station.

Dhingra said Bhattarais arrival provides important expertise for the programs holistic approach, making Texas A&M an innovator and leader in the field.

Researchers in the controlled environment horticulture program are experimenting with plants in a range of technologies that include long-standing methods like high tunnels and greenhouses and aquaponic and hydroponic systems.

They are also engaged in concepts like precision agriculture that rely on innovative technologies such as remote sensors to collect a range of data related to environmental and plant conditions. Sensing technology allows growers to incorporate other cutting-edge advancements like automation, robotics and artificial intelligence to manage plants.

The next frontier in controlled environment production of horticultural crops is plant genetics, Dhingra said. We hope to increase the efficiency, sustainability and profitability for controlled environment growers by harnessing the genetic potential in plant material so that crops perform at optimal levels in these systems.

Bhattarai said he is aware of only one other plant breeder conducting public research dedicated to controlled environment production.

A lot of research has been done on the structural and software programming side of controlled environment horticulture, but plant breeding specifically for those systems is lagging, he said. Cultivar development dedicated to controlled environment production is a field where there is a lot of opportunity to explore and contribute.

Bhattarais previous research covered a broad range of horticultural crops, including flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Bacterial leaf spot resistance was the focal point of his research as a graduate research assistant in the North Carolina State University tomato breeding program. The disease is problematic for open-field tomato production.

In 2014, while a masters student at the University of Florida, his focus shifted to ornamental plants, including the prevention of powdery mildew in cut flowers like Gerbera daisies.

Bhattarais research took another turn as a postdoctorate researcher at the University of California, Davis. Instead of breeding for plant disease resistance, he started analyzing genomic regions of strawberries in search of improved aroma and flavor.

Since I have experience in all three of these important commodities, I thought I could deliver some good research that could impact plant breeding for controlled environment production in Texas, he said. We have seen tremendous growth of controlled environment production in Texas, and that makes Texas A&M an ideal place to be.

Controlled environment horticulture is emerging as a sustainable production method that can supplement traditional field production. As agriculture grapples with the potential impacts of climate change, water scarcity, land fragmentation and other challenges, systems that optimize resources, operate within small footprints and are not subject to the whims of Mother Nature continue to gain momentum.

Bhattarai said Texas is rapidly becoming a leader in controlled environment production, which puts Texas A&M AgriLife in a position to help the industry and producers navigate challenges. Breeding plants to optimize their uptake of water and fertilizer is a focus, but he is also looking at genes that determine plant structure and inflorescence to maximize yields in limited space.

According to grower surveys, he said many of these systems are dedicated to leafy green production, but Bhattarai wants to expand grower options and crop variety.

Producers have to be profitable, and the ability to harness traits in cultivars for these targeted environments will be a critical part of the industrys evolution, he said. The genetic side of innovation in this field will optimize technological innovations in these systems.

Using genetic tools to identify and harness traits for specific growing systems will drive system optimization and industry sustainability, Bhattarai said.

For instance, in hydroponic systems, plants do not need high root biomass because nutrients are readily available. Bhattarai will select for cultivars producing higher volumes of the consumable products, whether fruit, shoots or leaves, for hydroponic growers. Genetics influencing inflorescence could also be chosen to optimize the systems ability to automate the crop harvest.

Identifying and expressing plant genes that open pathways to better flavors, better nutrition and other distinct characteristics will help controlled environment producers grow premium produce, Bhattarai said. Plant breeding programs will also help create high-value fruit and vegetables that are distinct in the marketplace.

The idea is to give controlled environment growers options and to optimize those options, Bhattarai said.

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Optimizing genetics to advance controlled environment agriculture - AgriLife Today - AgriLife Today

Genetics

Genetics help combat illegal movement of feral swine – The Wildlife Society

May 21, 2024 by Gail Keirn and Tim Smyser, USDA Wildlife Services

Most wild pigs are hybrids, offering clues to distinguish them from domestic pigs

When the gate swings open on a trailer, it doesnt take long for wild pigs to pour out into their new environment. Experts are not sure how often people move wild pigs, but they know it is contributing to the spread of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) across the United States.

The illegal transportation of wild pigs (also known as feral swine) for hunting purposes has contributed to the rapid expansion of this invasive species across to the United States over the past 40 years. They are now reported in at least 35 states. To help curb the spread of these invasive animals, multiple states have passed laws prohibiting their possession or transport. However, the similarities between domestic pigs and invasive wild pigs pose a challenge to enforcing these regulations.

Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish a domestic pig from an invasive wild pig just by looking at them, said NWRC geneticist Dr. Tim Smyser. But genetic analysis shows that about 97% of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in the U.S. are hybrids of wild boars and domestic pigs, Smyser said.

That has allowed NWRC researchers and partners to exploit the wild boar ancestry found in most invasive pigs to differentiate them from domestic pigs. Approximately 1,400 samples from 33 domestic breeds and 16 wild boar populations were genotyped and sorted into five genetically cohesive reference groups: mixed-commercial breeds, Durocs, heritage breeds, primitive breeds and wild boars.

Then, researchers used well-established genetic clustering techniques to evaluate the likelihood that some level of wild boar hybridization took place.

The technique we developed basically allows wildlife managers and law enforcement officials to collect a genetic sample from a captured pig, genotype it and determine how likely it is that the pig descended from one of the domestic breed lineages, a pure wild boar lineage or a hybrid of the two, Smyser said.

Researchers evaluated the discriminatory power of this approach using simulated genotypes and real data from an additional 29 breeds of domestic pigs and more than 6,500 invasive wild pig samples. All the simulated and real data from domestic pigs fell within the statistical distribution of the domestic pig reference groups, while 74% of the wild pig data exceeded the maximum threshold for the domestic pig reference groups and could be statistically classified as having wild boar ancestry.

The ability to curtail illegal translocations of invasive wild pigs is an important part of reducing their spread and damage to the economy and the environment, Smyser said. This new genetic and statistical approach will aid in the enforcement of prohibitions on wild pig movement and introduction.

Wildlife Services is a Strategic Partner of TWS.

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Genetics help combat illegal movement of feral swine - The Wildlife Society