Tatton Consulting

Farming Innovation Programme winner Antler Bio pioneering research on cattle epigenetics

Farming Innovation Programme winner Antler Bio pioneering research on cattle epigenetics

By

Antler Bio

Unlocking the potential | Improving performance | Increasing well-being | Improving sustainability |
Through epigenetics.

Our technology.

Genes are the recipes for proteins, which in turn are the key building blocks in the body. Conventional genetic testing will only look at whether a certain gene is present but not determine if this gene is active or silent. If a gene is silent, the protein that this gene encodes for will not be produced.

What if an important gene is switched off?

DNA testing does not detect this.

DNA doesn’t give the full story. We are delivering the missing data.

Performance and well-being is not about genetics alone, it’s also about the environmental factors and how the animal reacts to and can cope with its surroundings.
Our technology allows us to not only detect which genes are present but also which ones are active and their level of expression.
It allows us to also identify which environmental factors trigger changes in this gene expression allowing game-changing decisions to be made based on the data.

This is epigenetics.

From a single sample we can:

  • Analyse heritability and assess potential
  • Determine which changes in habitat will increase performance
  • Detect developing diseases before symptoms occur

FAQs

  • What is Epigenetics?
  • Why the cattle industry?

We are unlocking this big data through complex bioinformatics, machine-learning and artificial intelligence.

Complex traits require complex analysis.The performance of any given animal is a complex equation, impossible to explain by only looking at single changes in the DNA. The epigenetics data brings us closer to understanding the molecular blueprint of the best and healthiest individuals, but the biggest reason why this data has been inaccessible to breeders so far is the sheer magnitude of it.

Contact us.

Our technology is scalable to any living species and we are expanding. We are especially interested in connecting with stakeholders from different livestock and agricultural industries as well as funds that invest into disruptive seed-stage companies.

info(at)antlerbio.com