Research funding boost to aid livestock industry
19th Apr 2017 / By Alistair Driver
Two major research institutions have announced significant funding boosts that will help protect UK livestock against damaging diseases.
The Pirbright Institute announced has secured £77.3 million from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) over the next five years for two research streams.
One programme will focus on viruses, including the mechanics of replication, evolution and transmission and will be closely linked to the work of Pirbright’s world-leading Reference Laboratories.
The other will also include research into vaccines and immunity and will inform the institute’s work using new gene editing technologies, with the potential it said to 'transform current methods of fighting disease'.
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The Roslin Institute, in Edinburgh, has received £29.3m from BBSRC for research into farm animal genetics, development, welfare and infectious diseases.
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BBSRC has awarded grants worth £319m to support 16 programmes of research at the National Institutes of Bioscience over the next five years.