When Dr. Tim Leeds began working at the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture (NCCCWA) in Leetown, WV in 2008, he couldn’t have imagined that ARS would someday be doing genomic selection in fish. But today, that is exactly what is happening – with impressive results. As the Research Leader of the NCCCWA, he heads a team that is using sophisticated genomic analysis to bring healthier, stronger fish to the aquaculture industry, and to your plate.
When the Center opened in 2001, it focused on selective breeding in rainbow trout using traditional techniques: raising the fish to reproductive maturity (a process that takes about 2 years), and painstakingly tracking their genealogies along with their traits. While the Center still does this type of work, researchers there are also increasingly using other techniques that can bypass the most tedious steps, learning right away whether a fish has traits they want.
They accomplish this feat by analyzing genetic markers – groups of genes they capture using breakthrough technology that has become vastly more affordable in recent years. One key tool is the SNP Chip (pronounced “snip chip”), a kind of DNA micro-array – essentially a tiny slide printed with information about an organism’s genetic sequence.
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