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 Meet Jon Hickford a Professor at Lincoln Uni and learn about gene testing in sheep and what benefits it can offer us as sheep breeders. 

Smart Shepherding with Science

How technology can help sheep breeders reduce and even almost eradicate devastating diseases in their flock.  In this article we talk with Jon Hickford, a Professor at Lincoln University in New Zealand, about gene testing to breed better animals that are naturally resistant and are more productive.

WHY ARE GENES SO IMPORTANT?

The basis of breeding is knowing that something has some degree of heritability says Jon Hickford. Jon is an acclaimed researcher and lecturer in Science and Agriculture with over 30 years of experience.  We know that highly heritable traits can be bred for easily and vice versa for low heritability traits.  We've now come to a better understand that that's all driven by the genes, by the DNA of an animal, or plant or human.  So Jon and his team at Lincoln University in New Zealand aim to understand how DNA affects the performance of livestock, and has a big impact on livestock productivity and performance.

Jon and his team’s research looks for those genes that underpin diseases or other characteristics that can severely diminish the performance of an animal or cause it some sort of health or welfare effect.  For some of the diseases of livestock it is a single gene defect.  A lot of the research has been done in Australia with Australian stud breeders, focusing on eradicating particular forms of genes that are really quite devastating to the sheep industry. 

WHICH DISEASES ARE THESE?

Microphthalmia in Australian and New Zealand Texel sheep - This was a real success story.  This disease was a problem for the Texel stud breeders about 15-20 years ago.  The condition causes blindness.  So the researchers developed a new gene test based on some science done in Germany that allowed breeders to identify their Microphthalmia carrying sheep. And they've been using that tool ever since.

‘We can never be absolutely sure of eradication, but there is an ongoing dialogue about not letting Microphthalmia ever show its head again in Australia and New Zealand’ says Jon.  ‘There are still some Texel-cross genetics out there that make us suspicious’, he suggests.  It is a risk using unregistered genetics and not tracking pedigree when you’re dealing with a disease like this.

Dermatosparaxis a skin condition in White Dorpers – This disease impacts young lambs, their skin is like tissue paper and if you pick the lamp up the skin just rips.  It was rampant within New Zealand and Australia.  

This disease is also seen in cows, dogs, humans and cats Jon advises.  ‘That gave us a good clue on the genetics.  We looked at the gene that was implicated, in all those other species, and it was faulty in sheep, and

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