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Nordic – China Collaboration on Common Holstein Reference Population for genomic prediction


A strong collaboration on common reference population for genomic prediction has been established among College of Animal Science and Technology (CAST), China Agriculture University, Dairy Association of China, Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, and VikingGenetics. Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluation, is an associated partner.
The aim of this exiting Chinese and Nordic Collaboration is to strengthen Chinese and Nordic Holstein breeding through enhanced use of genomic selection, which will have great importance in a number of aspects:

  • Faster improvements in Chinese Holstein breeding will be achieved by significantly higher reliabilities of genomic evaluations
  • The Dairy Association of China sees the collaboration as a quantum leap for Chinese Holstein breeding to increase the benefit from genomic selection in China
  • The Nordic bulls can be assessed accurately on the Chinese scale
  • Precise genomic evaluation of Nordic Holstein bulls will have a great export advantage for VikingGenetics
  • China can import and VikingGenetics can export semen from bulls which can perform optimally under Chinese production environments by taking genotype by environment interactions into consideration
  • The model developed in this cooperation will be a framework for VikingGenetics to increase market competitiveness in other countries
  • University partners CAST and QGG will collaborate on new scientific improvements based on the joint data
  • The agreement will support the existing, fruitful collaboration between QGG and CAST, which has already resulted in 12 joint PhD projects among which 3 students have achieved degrees from both universities.

All partners see the collaboration as a great possibility to combine scientific and commercial forces within genomic selection to the benefit of Holstein breeding in China and the Nordic countries.


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