EADGENE coordinates the activities of 15 partners from 10 European countries, bringing together sufficient expertise and resources to make a real difference to animal and human health. The project started as a Network of Excellence on 1st September 2004 and was funded for 5.5 years, with a grant of 1.52 M euro's from the EC. The EADGENE Partners will continue to work together as a European Research Group (ERG).

Partners

• Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
• Wageningen University (WUR), NL
• Animal Sciences Group Lelystad (ASG-Lelystad), NL
• Institute for Animal Health (IAH), UK
• Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh (UEDIN), UK
• University of Aarhus Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (formerly DIAS), Denmark
• Liege University, Belgium
• Ljubljana University, Slovenia
• Cordoba University, Spain
• Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NSVS), Norway
• Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals (RIBFA), Germany
• Parco Tecnologico Padano (PTP), Italy
• European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders (EFFAB), NL 
• University of Copenhagen (CeBRA), Denmark
• Institute for Pig Genetics (IPG), NL

The Project

The EADGENE Network of Excellence was structured into 18 work packages grouped into four main activities:

• Research: Structural (WP5), population (WP6), functional (WP7) and operational (WP8) genomics.  Focussing on mastitis, E.coli, Salmonella and fish pathogens.
• Integration: Biological resources and facilities (WP1.1), bioinformatics (WP1.3), analytical tools (WP1.4), mobilisation of scientists (WP3), knowledge management (WP4).
• Spreading of Excellence: Training (WP9), technology transfer (WP10), knowledge transfer to 3rd countries(WP11.1), cross-linking with other networks (WP11.2), ethics (WP12.1), communication (WP12.3).
• Management: Durability of the network (WP13), strategic (WP14) and activities (Wp15) management.

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  Results and Achievements  

• Database of available resources
• Provision and annotation of chicken, pig, bovine, and salmon DNA microarrays
• Provision of SNP panels for large scale genotyping
• Provision of 60K SNP chips
• Development and distribution of bioinformatics tools
• Promotion and organisation of workshops and courses
• Working groups on Salmonella, mastitis, E. coli and ISAV/IPNV
• Inventories of genetic resources and recorded disease traits
• Phenotyping of immune responses in genetic models for disease resistance
• Comparative transcriptomic studies in hosts and pathogens
• Identification of relevant (signaling) pathways and gene networks
• Identification and characterisation of virulence factors
• Large scale SNP discoveries and genotyping
• Mathematical models of disease
• Club of Interest: linking to project working groups
• Initiation of projects on ontology, data collection and disease resistance
• Ethical guidance