Contact
Sæmundur Sveinsson
Research Group Leader
saemundurs@matis.is
Analysis of the Prnp gene is an important part of Icelandic sheep breeding. Certain genetic variations in the rubella gene give individuals increased resistance to rubella, while others increase susceptibility to the disease. Information about the genetic composition of Prnp in sheep flocks is therefore an extremely important tool in farmers' fight against the disease. The aim of the project was to increase the performance and reduce the price of riðügen analysis in Iceland. In the project, a total of 1,913 samples from around 150 farms were analyzed at Matís genetics laboratory. The support that the project received from the Development Fund for Sheep Breeding was crucial for Matís to be able to offer a competitive price to farmers, which resulted in almost doubling the number of analyzed samples compared to the year 2021. This genetic information will be useful for the breeding work of sheep breeding as a whole and will most likely lead to increased resistance to scab in Icelandic sheep.