Majority of Poultry Nutritionists Believe Epigenetics To Have Large Effect in Future

October 10, 2011 – Over 130 poultry nutritionists and industry professionals gathered in Dunboyne, Ireland, to attend Alltech’s Poultry Epigenetics Seminar.  The seminar focused on epigenetics, the future of the poultry industry and the question of feeding 9 billion people by 2050.

October 10, 2011 – Over 130 poultry
nutritionists and industry professionals gathered in Dunboyne, Ireland,
to attend Alltech’s Poultry Epigenetics Seminar.  The seminar focused
on epigenetics, the future of the poultry industry and the question of
feeding 9 billion people by 2050.

“Food security is in danger and it is paramount that agricultural policy changes to recognize the perfect storm brewing on the horizon. There is a tremendous gap between genetic potential and what we are achieving in the field. Nutrition must use new approaches to bridge the gap,” Aidan Connolly, vice president of Corporate Accounts with Alltech.

Epigenetics is a rapidly growing research field that investigates heritable alterations
in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in DNA
sequence.

Key messages from each of the five speakers:

“Ultimately the pie is finite; there is a limit to the genetic potential of an animal. If resources can then be allocated appropriately for that animal, away from maintenance for example, then this leaves more available for  growth.” – Dr. Chris Ashwell, Department of Poultry Science, NC State University, USA.

“There are three main implications for the requirements for vitamins and antioxidants. These include developing new feeding strategies using gene expression analysis to optimize the use of expensive ingredients, understanding dietary effects and the hidden effects of nutrition and providing an explanation of production responses.” – Dr. James Pierce, Director of Research, Alltech, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky, USA.

“What the mother is fed during pregnancy is not always what the baby sees in the uterus. Supplements to the mother’s diet don’t always lead to benefits for the child. In addition if you are born small it is better to stay small early on, accelerated early growth increases risk of adiposity later on.” – Dr. Susan Ozanne, British Heart Foundation Senior Fellow, University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, UK.

“Taking control of genetics, independent of Mendelian inheritance, moves us beyond simple breeding programs and provides new nutritional tools to enhance productivity. This is done by using nutrition to define epigenetic controls, nutritional interactions and to redefine nutrient requirements, allowing animals to reach their genetic potential.” – Dr. Karl Dawson, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Alltech, USA.

“Straightforward optimization is not as simple as it looks. With micro arrays and gene expression we can improve our understanding of physiological responses.” – Dr. Jan Dirk van der Klis, Schothorst Feed Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands.

130 nutritionists attended the Alltech Poultry Epigenetics Seminar, of those surveyed:
    •    49% indicated that their awareness of the area of epigenetics is because of Alltech’s Poultry Epigenetics seminar and 71% believe that it will be an area that will impact greatly on bird health, bird efficiency and product quality.
    •    More than half believe that the price of feed will rise by over 10% in the next 12 months.
    •    68% think that research findings on epigenetics will be important to optimize poultry production in the next 5 years; however, they are undecided on the level that FCR can be improved to by 2040.
    •    On the issue of optimizing chick quality 50% believe that the poultry industry are not currently exploiting all the possibilities in breeder nutrition.
    •    61% of respondents also felt very strongly that the industry is not doing enough to attract young talent to the poultry sector.

“Of all areas the poultry industry is the most productive and quickest to adopt new technologies, constantly streamlining itself to keep up with increasing global demand. This next step into the field of epigenetics is vitally important for the future of food and for the future of the poultry industry, both of which are inextricably linked,” Dr. Peter Spring, Swiss College of Agriculture and chairperson of the Alltech Poultry Epigenetics Seminar.