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SCIENCERESEARCHINNOVATION
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Welcome to Website of Institute of Animal Science!
Institute of Animal Science (IAS) Prague – Uhříněves is a public research institution founded by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.
Since its foundation in 1951, the Institute has been a centre of research into biological and bio-technological basis of animal science.
IAS carries out basic and applied research focusing on innovation and the practical use of knowledge in animal science. Eight research departments perform research in the fields of animal genetics and breeding, bio-technology and reproduction, nutrition, quality of products, animal ethology and welfare, breeding technology, herd management and production economy.
In addition to basic and applied research, IAS carries out other expert activities. One of the most significant is the implementation of the National Programme for Conservation and Utilization of Farm Animal Genetic Resources. In 2016, the IAS was appointed as the National Centre for Genetic Resources to coordinate and implement the National Programme, along with many stakeholders. The Institute has also provided for the activity of the Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition and was entrusted by the Ministry of Agriculture to represent the Czech Republic in the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP). IAS provides professional training on classification of swine and cattle carcasses according to SEUROP, under a contract with the Ministry of Agriculture.
Biologist Helena Fulková in Iveta Toušlová’s TV show Geyser
„When Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, was born almost a quarter century ago, it was a breakthrough. Today, cloning is used to produce police dogs, racehorses and, more recently, even pets, although it is a very controversial topic and many scientists clearly reject cloning. Czech scientist Helena Fulková is one of those who are looking for a deeper sense of cloning „, says Iveta Toušlová, the author and presenter of the show Geyser.Číst dále→
Sequence differences are considered to be the basic cause of developmental failure in interspecies embryos when more distant species are combined. However, other phenomena, such as insufficient or excessive quantity of specific cellular factors, might also influence the outcome. These effects are usually not considered. One of the organelles shown to contain different amount of proteins is the oocyte nucleolus-like body. Here we show that upon interspecies transfer, a single porcine nucleolus-like body is unable to support the development of a mouse parthenogenetic embryo derived from an enucleolated oocyte. However, when the amount of the porcine nucleolar material is increased to equalize the amount of mouse nucleolar material by transferring two nucleolus-like bodies, mouse embryos are able to pass the developmental block elicited by enucleolation. These embryos progress to the blastocyst stage at rates comparable to controls. Thus, using the model of an interspecies nucleolus-like body transplantation between mouse and pig oocytes, we show that an inadequate amount of nucleolar factors, rather than the species origin, affects the development. In a wider context of interspecies nuclear transfer schemes, the observed incompatibility between more distant species might not stem simply from sequence differences but also from improper dosage of key cellular factors.
Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition
The Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition was established in 2002 as an advisory body of the food safety coordination group. Its main task is to prepare scientific studies, offer expert views, and prepare proposals for measures ensuring safety throughout the entire chain of food and feed production.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Animal breeding is based on the continuous development of individual breeds and their adaptation to changing environmental conditions. For genetic evaluation of animals, huge national databases of performance testing and pedigree datasets are used. Computations, where many model equations are involved is processed by methods BLUP and REML. Currently, SNP markers from DNA chips are also included. The project is focus on Czech cooperation with University of Georgia (USA). Aim of project is to developed and tested algorithms and programs for genomic data editing, construction of genomic relationshipmatrix and verification of genomic procedures in small populations (including impact of export animal, crossbreeds and overlapping populations).
The aim of the project is to offer pig breeders the practical possibilities of mitigating or eliminating the operational and economic impacts of the restriction and prohibition of surgical castration of the piglets and introducing to farmers validated alternatives to the production of pancakes corresponding to the current trend in a number of European Union countries. The project should provide the user with the knowledge, facts and methodologies leading to a successful adaptation to the changing conditions of the European pigmeat market related to restrictions in the field of surgical castration of the male piglets.
PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICAL USE
EXPERT REPORTS
Preparation of analyses, studies and research on individual demand
CONTRACT RESEARCH
Contract research following the partners’ assignment
SEUROP
Training courses for cattle and pig carcass classifiers.
ECONOMIC ANALYSES
ECOWEIGHT, FarmProfit, Forecasting the Structure of Dairy Cattle Herd, Forecasting the structure of dairy cattle herd
CONSULTANCY
Active consultancy for the breeders of dairy cattle, beef cattle, goats and sheep, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses and cervids.
EXPERT SEMINARS
Invited lectures for breeders, students and agricultural business staff on specific topics
