Jun
13
2023
The advantages of genomics applied to PRE Horses
On Wednesday, the 7th of June, at the Hotel Doña Maria in Sevilla, the GO EQUIGENOM group was presented. This group, led by ANCCE, will develop an interesting genomics project applied to horses in general, and more specifically to PRE Horses.
Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, by means of a public aid summons for innovative general interest projects undertaken by Innovation Groups, has granted its support to a ground-breaking EQUIGENOM project. This project will develop an economic, medium density chip to verify parentage, diagnose diseases, detect traits of economic importance, genomic selection among PRE Horses, and develop digital tools to facilitate their usage.
The President of ANCCE, Jose Juan Morales Fernandez, inaugurated the presentation, introduced the various speakers and explained ANCCE’s participation in the project. Juan Maria Gallardo Bolaños from RFEAGAS Technical Services explained the participation of this Federation in the group. He was followed by Mª Teresa Perez Merino, Customer Service Manager and representative for Life Technologies—a subsidiary of the Thermo Fisher—who elucidated on the participation of Life Technologies in the project, together with Olga Rodriguez Dominguez, representing Thermo Fisher.
Arancha Rodriguez Sainz de los Terreros, director of the LG PRE ANCCE Stud Book followed suit with another presentation. She offered a short introduction to genomics so that the audience obtained a general insight about the topic. Last, but not least, was a presentation by Mercedes Valera Cordoba, Professor at the University of Sevilla. She explained the current situation of genomic selection in equines throughout the world, and how the innovation group’s results will benefit not only Purebred Spanish Horses, but equines in general and other national breeds.
The importance of genomics lies in the fact that it allows diseases to be foreseen, in addition to the traits of a given horse and how these are then transmitted to their progeny. Likewise, it is a digital tool that is easy for breeders to consult and use.
The reliability of genetic values is increased immediately, which is one of the main advantages of this project. Until now, the prediction for an offspring was based on an average between the known values of the sire and dam. Nevertheless, the final results took several years verify and assess in the actual horse.
