News

Funding for networking activities received

posted Jun 2, 2016, 1:39 AM by Linn Fenna Groeneveld   [ updated Jun 2, 2016, 1:40 AM ]

In November 2015, the recently extended NordMilk network received 250.000 NOK for networking activities from the Nordic Committee of Agriculture and Food Research (NKJ). The main objective of this netwok is to contribute to a sustainable production of food by providing knowledge on milk from native cattle breeds and reindeer, which cen be used to seize new opportunities in the Nordic and Baltic dairy sector. During 2016 and 2017, under the title "Nordic-Baltic network on sustainable milk production from native cattle from a dairy and health perspective", there will be:
  • virtual research meetings
  • exchange of research methodologies
  • support for PhD students to visit other labs
  • a PhD course - November 2016 in Sweden
  • a workshop - November 2017 in Norway

NordMilk Poster from the 11th International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health

posted Nov 5, 2014, 8:23 AM by Linn Fenna Groeneveld   [ updated Nov 5, 2014, 8:47 AM ]

NordMilk was presented at the 11th International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health held in Aarhus, Denmark with a poster contribution. You can read the abstract below and download a pdf-version of the poster at the bottom of this page.

NordMilk - Nordic Network on characterization of milk from indigenous
Nordic cattle breeds

Nina A. Poulsen1 , Mette K. Larsen1 , Maria Glantz2 , Marie Paulsson2 , Gerd E. Vegarud3 , Tove G. Devold3 , Juha Kantanen4 , Anne Pihlanto4 , Bryndís E. Birgisdottír5 , Linn F. Groeneveld6 , Peer Berg6 , Lotte B. Larsen1

1Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Denmark, 2Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, Lund University, Sweden, 3Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway, 4Biotechnology and Food Research, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Finland, 5Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Iceland, 6NordGen - Nordic Genetic Resource Center, Norway

The newly established NordMilk Network is a scientific network for researchers working on characterization of milk from indigenous Nordic cattle breeds. The aim of the network is to fulfill some of the international obligations through genetic and phenotypic characterization of milk from Nordic indigenous cattle breeds. This is considered as a step towards developing dairy niche products from these breeds and thereby sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources.
Modern dairy farming is based on intensive production systems for high yielding breeds to increase the economic net benefit for the primary producers and the consumers. Thus, indigenous breeds have to a large extent been replaced by higher yielding global breeds. Therefore, many of the Nordic indigenous cattle breeds generally are in low numbers and classified as endangered or critically endangered. Locally, many of these cows are used as suckling cows or for landscape management and the fraction being milked varies from breed to breed. However, molecular characterization of the Nordic breeds suggests that they are genetically distinct (Kantanen et al., 2000) and show different allelic and genotypic frequencies for example at the casein loci (Lien et al., 1999). This could be reflected in distinct milk composition among the breeds, which could facilitate development of niche dairy products and thereby an increase in the economic incentive for sustainably utilizing these breeds.
National funding in the different Nordic countries has ensured that milk from the indigenous breeds can be collected and characterized in order to document if milk originating from indigenous breeds have desirable characteristics of nutritional and/or technological value that can be exploited in specific dairy products, like drinking milk, butter, cheese or fermented dairy products. Furthermore, genetic analyses using the bovine HD chip will provide new understanding of the genetic basis of these traits in indigenous Nordic cattle breeds.

References
Kantanen J, Olsaker I, Holm L-E, Lien S, Vilkki J, Brusgaard K, Eythorsdottir E, Danell B, Adalsteinsson S. 2000. Genetic diversity and population structure of 20 North European cattle breeds. The Journal of Heredity 91: 446-457.
Lien, S., Kantanen, J., Olsaker, I., Holm, L-E., Eythorsdottir, E., Sandberg, K., Dalsgard, B., Adalsteinsson, S. 1999. Comparison of milk protein allele frequencies in Nordic cattle breeds. Animal Genetics 30: 85-91.

IMGC Workshop 2014: Tools and possibilities for optimized milk

posted Jul 29, 2014, 4:41 AM by Linn Fenna Groeneveld   [ updated Jul 29, 2014, 4:42 AM ]

In connection with the International Milk Genomics Symposium, see previous post, there will be a IMGC Workshop on "Tools and possibilites for optimized milk" on October 9 & 10 in Aarhus. The workshop will combine expert lectures and presentations by workshop participants with tutorial working sections and group discussions.

Workshop topics:
  • Genes, milk composition and properties
  • Milk from native breeds
  • Small milk components: metabolites, oligosaccharides, peptides and vitamins
  • Technological properties of milk
  • New breeding markers for improved milk quality

Confirmed invited speakers:
  • Valentina Bonfatti, University of Padua, Italy
  • Kasper Hettinga, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
  • Henk Bovenhuis, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
  • Georg Erhardt, Justus-Liebig University, Germany
  • Peter Sørensen, Aarhus University, Denmark


Please register here by Sept 1 2014 if you wish to participate!

The registration fee of 800 DKK covers all meals during the workshop and a social evening event on October 9.

We hope to meet you there!

11 th International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health

posted Jul 3, 2014, 6:51 AM by Linn Fenna Groeneveld   [ updated Jul 3, 2014, 8:15 AM ]

http://milkgenomics.org/11th-international-symposium-milk-genomics-human-health/
11th International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health 

The 11th International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health is being held in Aarhus, Denmark from October 6-8, 2014.

The conference website reads: "The three day event is organized by the IMGC in collaboration with Arla Foods, Aarhus University, the Danish Dairy Research Foundation, and the local organizing committee in Denmark. It will bring together international experts in nutrition, genomics, bioinformatics and milk research to discuss and share the latest research. The annual symposium is our flagship event that features scientific research related to milk and human health done throughout the world. The symposium draws from the diversity of its memberships to cover the breath of genomics themes that reflect the interest of the Consortium.  The goal of the Consortium is to bring together the research and dairy communities to share, translate, and interpret data that are happening within the fields of the “-omics” science.

Topics for this year’s symposium include:
  • Milk Genomics – where it all starts…
  • Lactation in a comparative biology perspective
  • Milk and the Neonate
  • Technological aspects of milk
  • Obesity and the metabolic syndrome
  • Biological effects of milk constituents"
Come and check out our poster about the NordMilk research network at the poster session. We hope to see you there! 

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