Derivation of livestock stem cells for applications in basic research, functional genomics, reproductive technology, biotechnology and biomedicine

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Angelika Schnieke
• Subject Area: Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry
• Term: from 2005 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5452856

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are valuable biomedical research tools, allowing the creation of disease models, study of biological and disease processes and analysis of genome function. By understanding cellular differentiation, ES cells and also adult multipotent stem cells can facilitate the development of cellular therapies. Thus far, the mouse has been the focus for this work, although ES cells have now been isolated from human and monkey. Further research is needed to provide a full array of stem cells in other species, particularly those with the potential to provide relevant models of human disease. Furthermore, the genome sequence of several livestock species will soon be determined, yet no livestock ES cells are available to investigate the biological function of these data. We propose to isolate ES cells from rabbit and pig. Our approach will be to: 1, use marker assisted cell selection shown previously to facilitate ES cell derivation; 2, apply recent knowledge obtained from the culture of human stem cells; 3, incorporate the use of newly discovered exogenous and endogenous factors shown to promote stem cell renewal. This will be a collaborative project with researchers from the Roslin Institue, Edinburgh, UK.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants