A first look at a revamped ILRI research program: Livestock Genetics Continue reading
Category Archives: Biotechnology
Cloned bull could contribute to development of disease-resistant African cattle
A note in a scientific journal gives an update on long-term research to develop African cattle resistant to the Africa animal disease known as trypanosomiasis. The aim of this research is to help reduce widespread poverty and hunger on the continent by improving livestock livelihoods. Continue reading
Culture of the cow: Curds in the city—Better living through smallholder dairying in northern India
This is the third in a series of articles on ‘Curds and goats, lives and livelihoods—A dozen stories from northern and eastern India’. Continue reading
Reverse vaccinology identifies candidates for an improved vaccine against cattle pneumonia in Africa
We used a reverse vaccinology approach to identify 66 Mmm potential vaccine candidates. The selection and grouping of the antigens was based on the presence of specific antibodies in sera from CBPP-positive animals. The antigens were used to immunize male Boran cattle (Bos indicus) followed by a challenge with the Mmm strain Afadé. Continue reading
Elite buffaloes and other exemplars of advanced Indian dairy science at the National Dairy Research Institute
Shrestha, a spirited buffalo bull, greeted Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), with a low grunt during a visit Smith and his delegation recently made at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), India’s pre-eminent dairy research centre, located in the northern city of Karnal and the prosperous state of Haryana. Continue reading
Celebrating 15 years of African agricultural biosciences excellence
The #CelebrateBecA event brought together global, regional and local actors in agricultural biosciences research for development to mark the Hub’s achievements and deliberate on further ways to scale its programs and impacts to advance African agriculture and food and nutritional security. Click through the story pages above to get an overview of the celebrations and plenary presentations, or view the same storify on ILRI’s Storify site. Continue reading
The BecA-ILRI Hub celebrates 15 years of biosciences in and for Africa
Coming up next week is an event marking the 15th anniversary of the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research (BecA-ILRI) Hub, located in Nairobi, Kenya, and working with partners across the continent as well as with bioscience institutions worldwide. Continue reading
Towards more productive dairy cattle for Africa’s smallholders
Improving the genetic makeup of Africa’s dairy cattle has the potential increase farmer productivity and profitability, hence transform the lives of millions of dairy families across Africa. This latest program, African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) program, led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), offers real opportunities to help smallholders improve their lives through livestock. It also contributes to ILRI’s global livestock genetics program—LiveGene. Continue reading
Climate-smart livestock farming in developing countries is boosted by a £10-million research award
Researchers at the Roslin Institute will be using funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate how genetic information can improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates, which is a proven approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health is an alliance between the Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the Africa-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The partner institutions are making additional contributions with a value of £10 million to support the initiative over the next five years. Continue reading
Why communicate agricultural science to non-specialists? A brief for livestock geneticists
At a recent workshop co-hosted by an NGO called Biosciences for Farming in Africa (B4FA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, ILRI communications staff Susan MacMillan made a short presentation on why the 20-plus animal geneticists in the room should bother communicating their science to non-specialists. The big picture ‘A … Continue reading