THE cost of DNA testing appears to be behind Australian Wool Innovation cutting off funds to its nucleus flock. <\/p>\n
In a letter to its levypayers AWI said cost would deter DNA testing by stud breeders. <\/p>\n
\"The cost of genotyping is currently in the order of $130 and would have to drop to about $20 before a significant uptake is expected, \" AWI chief executive Stuart McCullough and chairman Wal Merriman said in the letter. <\/p>\n
Late last year AWI was asked to contribute $4.8 million to a nine-year program costing almost $13 million and involving a 6000-head flock joined over five years and four subsequent years of measurements. <\/p>\n
At the time the Sheep Co-operative Research Centre paid $150 for a test that provided a parentage, detection of single gene traits such as pollness and predictions for a range of traits for wool and carcass quality, fertility and parasite resistance. <\/p>\n
But Victorian Department of Primary Industries geneticist Dr Ben Hay said DNA costings were falling sharply worldwide. <\/p>\n
Dr Hay said the cost of reading DNA had dropped by more than $100 in the past five years. <\/p>\n
\"And we can expect even greater reductions in the next couple of years,\" Dr Hay said. <\/p>\n
Although AWI quoted a $130 test cost in its letter of last week, Sheep CRC chief executive Dr James Rowe said it had contracted a price of $110 for this year's pilot program and stud breeders would pay a subsidised rate of $50. <\/p>\n
\"We reckon it will be down to $50 next year,\" he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
More here: THE cost of DNA testing appears to be behind Australian Wool Innovation cutting off funds to its nucleus flock. Continue reading
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