Biobank: DNA repository of all breeding animals

Molecular breeding is the use of DNA information to uncover the genetic value of animals. This is an area that is developing rapidly. We store blood or tissue samples of all breeding stock centrally in the RTC laboratory. Samples are bar-coded and we use robots to exclude human error when processing thousands of samples for genotyping. The persistent and centralized storage of samples that span multiple farms and generations provides a structured sample collection across time and space that can be used for meaningful analysis of the molecular data.