Page 13 - National Poultry Newspaper

Roadmap to put Australian protein on global map
tein production systems. Food and agribusiness growth centre Food In- novation Australia Lim- ited managing director Dr Mirjana Prica said the global demand for pro- tein represents a signifi- cant export opportunity for all of Australia’s pro-
Low-cost freezing method safeguards poultry genetics
A STUDY carried out by the Roslin Institute has found that low- cost freezing technol- ogy can safeguard the genetic diversity of indigenous chickens in low and middle- income countries.
of chickens by reducing the number of birds in research facilities.” Simple method
in poultry, and in vitro alternatives are techni- cally demanding and expensive.
Chicks have been born from surrogate chickens that received formerly frozen repro- ductive cells extracted from embryos derived entirely from donor chickens.
A team from the Ros- lin Institute and CTL- GH – with their com- mercial partner Cobb- Europe – validated a simple technique in which chicken repro- ductive organs were ex- tracted from embryos, pooled by sex and fro- zen.
This simple technique does not require cells to be created in vitro in the laboratory, making it easier and cheaper to preserve chickens, ben- efitting both commer- cial and smallholder farmers.
The cryopreserva- tion method could help preserve the 1600 local chicken breeds that are an important source of income for smallhold- er farmers in tropical countries.
After being thawed, the reproductive cells were injected into ster- ile surrogate embryos.
CTLGH director Professor Appolinaire Djikeng said, “The chicken is a key animal for millions of small- holder farmers in low and middle-income countries.”
It could also help se- cure poultry genes from indigenous breeds for efforts to develop birds with climate resilience or disease resistance and to ensure food pro- duction.
Research using fluo- rescent proteins to label the donors’ cells and a method to control the reproductive genes car- ried by both parents – known as sire dam sur- rogate mating – demon- strated that chicks were derived entirely from their donor parents.
The Roslin Institute and Centre for Tropi- cal Livestock Genetics and Health postdoctoral research fellow Dr Tu- anjun Hu said, “This simple, low-cost and low-tech biobanking method will be benefi- cial to poultry breed- ers worldwide, big or small.”
Experiments showed that freezing the entire reproductive organ was more effective than freezing separated re- productive cells.
The study is pub- lished in the journal eLife and was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Foreign, Common- wealth and Develop- ment Office under the auspices of CTLGH, and the National Cen- tre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduc- tion of Animals in Re- search.
“It will reduce the cost of maintaining live- stock for breeding and will benefit the welfare
The Roslin Insti- tute and CTLGH pro- gram leader Dr Mike McGrew said that while cryopreservation of re- productive cells from adult livestock is rou- tine, it is problematic
Male reproductive cells were injected into male embryos and fe- male cells into female embryos.
“This simple and low- cost method – devel- oped through a CTLGH collaboration between Roslin, ILRI and Cobb- Europe – will enable conservation of chick- en diversity, to ensure farmers can breed birds that are resilient to ex- treme climates, and a reliable source of food and income for farming families.”
A NEW roadmap by CSIRO, Australia’s na- tional science agency, shows how Australia can serve up a wider range of high-quality protein products to feed the world’s growing population and help cap- ture a $13 billion market opportunity for all types of protein.
agriculture and food pre- sent a big opportunity for future growth.
ora of protein opportuni- ties is critical if we are to switch from importing ingredients to producing our own domestically.”
Released recently, the report ‘Protein: A road- map for unlocking tech- nology-led growth op- portunities for Australia’ also outlines how Aus- tralia could create up to 10,000 jobs and become a global leader.
“This will help shift Australia’s reputation from being the world’s food bowl of commodi- ties to becoming a global delicatessen of unique higher value exports,” Dr Marshall said.
increasing for all protein sources,” Dr Prica said.
With an expected two billion extra people on the planet to feed by 2050, coupled with changing tastes and dietary prefer- ences, the world is going to need to produce more protein, more sustainably and from more sources.
“CSIRO’s Future Pro- tein Mission recognises the scale of this challenge and brings together a wide network of partners with the latest innovative technology to seize this opportunity for a resil- ient and sustainable food system.
“Australia has a real opportunity to have a thriving local food man- ufacturing sector, while becoming a leading ex- porter in value-added tra- ditional, plant and novel protein products.
The roadmap was de- veloped in consultation with key stakeholders in government, industry and the research sector across Australia’s agriculture, food and innovation sys- tem.
“As protein demand grows and new consumer trends emerge, solutions from science can help create new markets and complement our existing globally competitive tra- ditional markets.”
tein players.
“Consumer demand is
CSIRO developed the roadmap drawing on its deep and broad connec- tions in the sector to drive a conversation about how to grow this protein op- portunity for national benefit, underpinned by the right infrastructure and technology.
“Building domestic ca- pacity and infrastructure to not only tap but to build scale for the pleth-
Access the full report at csiro.au/protein-roadmap
Growth opportuni- ties include new plant- based products, turning lesser cuts of red meat into value-added protein powders and nutraceuti- cals, developing higher- protein and better tasting legume crops, creating a new sustainable indus- try in Australian white- flesh fish, and exploring non-traditional forms of protein such as cultivated meat and edible insects.
“We can supercharge growth in our traditional protein industries by har- nessing technologies such as digital traceability and integrity systems that en- hance the premium status of Australian red meat, and grow new comple- mentary protein markets through techniques simi- lar to precision fermenta- tion to generate a suite of new Australian prod- ucts.”
CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall said Australia’s strong history and global reputation in
The roadmap highlights how protein demand can only be met by bring- ing together animal, plant and non-traditional pro-
Prize size for Australian protein by 2030.
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National Poultry Newspaper, April 2022 – Page 13