Professor in animal breeding and genetics at the at the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
My initial research focus was on genetic variation and breeding programs in dairy cattle, and I still do work within that area, but because I have worked a lot with the supervision of PhD students, I have done research on pigs, poultry, sheep, horses, and dogs. The PhD students I currently supervise work with horses (riding horses and trotters) and camelids (llama, alpaca, and vicuña).
I think my interest shifted quite early from being interested mainly in dairy cattle to being more interested in population genetics and genetic variation in general. I had the opportunity to take a Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which, although still focusing on dairy cattle, gave me a broader introduction to population and quantitative genetics.
In an industry PhD project that we called “Tinder for Cows” (read more in Swedish and English), we showed that we could optimize matings between cows and bulls to minimize inbreeding, avoid the occurrence of lethal defects, and increase the frequency of a desirable monogenic trait like polledness (not having horns; calves are normally dehorned, which can be a welfare issue) without markedly affecting the genetic level of the breeding goal traits. This is one example of how genomic information can be used for a very practical problem.
I learned about it after it transformed from being a platform for plant breeding only. I don’t think it has had any impact on my own research yet, but I can see that others have participated in the activities arranged by the network. For instance, it made it possible to have foreign researchers come for visits to SLU.
I think there will be a lot of research on epigenetics because it is largely not well understood and because such research is becoming possible. However, from a breeding point of view, in many situations, there are so much simpler things that need to be done first before epigenetics will have any impact. For instance, in many countries, e.g., low- and middle-income countries, there is still insufficient recording of phenotypes for traits of importance. As a fellow researcher is known to say: In the age of the genotype, phenotype is king.
If you have a special interest, hold on to that. However, unless you are very lucky, you have to be opportunistic as well. While working on a not-your-dream project, there are always angles. And, besides, the not-your-dream project might become your dream project. Most important things in life happen not through careful planning but because you take advantage of random events.
Relation between linearly scored traits and lifetime competition points in riding horses
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Genetic correlation between racing barefoot and performance traits for trotters
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