The Project
Understanding the Biology of multifactorial traits –unique animal models and novel bioinformatics tools lead the way.
Winner
Dr Örjan Carlborg
Linnaeus Centre for Bioinformatics
Uppsala University & Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
BMC, Box 598
Uppsala SE-751 24
Sweden
http://www.lcb.uu.se
Örjan Carlborg, aged 34, is an Interdisciplinary Group Leader at the Linnaeus Centre for Bioinformatics, Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, focusing on development of genetic models and bioinformatics methodologies for agricultural and medical genetic research. Being from a family farm outside Uppsala, he finds it logical to use agricultural animals in his research, as they display a remarkable amount of genetic variation for both agriculturally and medically important traits. He has a unique multi-disciplinary background with a M.Sc in Animal Science from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 1998, complemented with degrees from Uppsala Graduate School in Biomedical Research and the National Graduate School in Scientific Computing. In 2002, he presented his Ph.D thesis on developing and applying new methods for mapping quantitative trait loci, which was awarded as an outstanding PhD thesis by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. Funded by a 5-year career development award from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation, he has since completed a 2-year Post-Doc at the Roslin Institute, UK, before assuming his current position.
He said: “Our domestic animals are a fantastic resource for both agricultural and medical genetic research and I am thrilled to be given this opportunity to show that through this groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research project”
Provisional Award
€ 1,250,000
Project Description
Only modest progress so far has been achieved in realising a major aim of the Human Genome Project, to find the genes underlying common human disorders, many of which involve multifactorial inheritance. It is now clear that comparative genomics studies using model organisms are needed to unravel the link between disorders and complex genetic traits. For example by studying populations that have produced dramatic phenotypic changes in response to long-term selection without exhausting genetic variation for the selected trait, we can gain major insights into the genetic basis of phenotypic variation and change. Carlborg studied a chicken population subjected to 45 generations of bi-directional selection for bodyweight, leading to a genetically determined eight fold variation in this trait. He then showed using genetic interaction analysis how four interacting loci mediated a considerably larger selection response (accounting for nearly half the bodyweight difference between the two lines) than a single locus model. This explains how chickens maintained phenotypic potential, or “evolvability” way beyond the range of phenotypes actually found in the base population. In this EURYI project, the gene network involved will be replicated and fine-mapped using an extended dataset and novel bioinformatics methodologies. Then a new experimental animal model will be developed and used for powerful in-depth studies of the functional role of the network. Finally, potential candidate genes and pathways that play critical roles within the network in determining agriculturally and medically important traits will be identified.
