Company, Colleges, USDA Collaborate on Animal Genomics

July 25, 2000

AniGenics Inc, a new animal genomics company based in San Francisco, says it has formed a coalition with USDA’s Animal Research Center, the Universities of Illinois and Minnesota and the Roslin Institute for genetic modifications in livestock.

The company’s initial license agreements include micro satellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and coding SNP assays for major economic traits in cattle, swine and poultry, plus microarrays for gene expression profiling and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for these same species, according to AniGenics.

Administered by the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) develops new technology to increase the efficiency of livestock production and benefit consumers on 35,000 acres near Clay Center, NE. A cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) has been entered into between AniGenics and MARC to develop DNA microarrays and genetic tests for livestock applications. MARC already has provided to AniGenics 30 SNP markers for parentage analysis and 15 coding SNPs for a meat tenderness gene, the company says.

The University of Illinois’ W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics has produced a detailed cattle-human comparative gene map using ESTs and radiation hybrid mapping and developed powerful bioinformatics tools for the prediction of map location of any DNA sequence in livestock species using comparative mapping information. The group also will contribute cattle cDNA clones and allied information for the production of microarrays for analyzing gene expression on a global scale, according to AniGenics.

At the University of Minnesota, a program was developed recently for the first porcine radiation hybrid map, in collaboration with the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France, and will provide AniGenics with second-generation quantitative trait maps for swine.

The Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland, is a center for research on molecular and quantitative genetics of farm animals and poultry science, with major programs on the biology of reproduction, developmental biology and growth, and animal welfare and behavior. The Institute is sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) through a competitive strategic grant, and obtains funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), European Union, Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), Milk Development Council (MDC) and other public and private organizations. It is most famous for successfully cloning the first sheep, Dolly. A letter of intent has been signed with AniGenics providing extensive genomic information on swine, cattle, poultry and sheep, the company said.

AniGenics, Inc., is a privately held company engaged in advancing genomics and proteomics research to improve animal health and productivity. AniGenics was formed and financed by Burrill & Company, a leading venture capital firm focused exclusively on life science companies. AniGenics' portfolio of technologies will enable producers to economically identify superior breeding stock resulting in improved food safety and enhanced food quality.

The company also hopes to identify novel drug targets to be used in the development of safer and more effective pharmaceutical products for both companion and production animals. Additionally, AniGenics' comparative genomics program will be applied to human therapeutics.