Final Report Summary - ERIN (Support study for the identification of potential needs and possibilities for an integrated European infrastructure network of animal facilities in ruminant physiology)
ERIN analysed the needs for a shared European infrastructure dedicated to ruminant physiology. ERIN conducted bibliometric analyses, reviewed vision papers, interviewed research managers, surveyed research groups and facilities, built scenarios for the organisation of research facilities in Europe, and organised a stakeholder conference to discuss the findings.
More than 3 000 scientific articles are published per year on ruminants with a slight increase over time. This gives Europe a leading position in the world, with more than 400 European institutes or universities involved. The collaborations within Europe and between Europe and outside Europe are extensive but collaborations with Eastern Europe remain limited.
Cattle are the predominant ruminant species studied, followed by sheep and goats. The publications concern mainly veterinary sciences, agriculture, dairy and animal science, food science and technology. This apparent stability hides profound recent changes in terms of topics and methods.
Research on ruminants need to address new challenges at global level: food security, climate change, sustainability of production systems (including protection of the environment and animals, and social equity). Innovative solutions require integrated applications of existing knowledge, science and technology; interdisciplinarity networks; increased participation of stakeholders.
In the past, functional traits that were looked for (e.g. growth rate) were generally controlled by few genes. Nowadays, more complex traits like fertility or behaviour are addressed. Such traits are often determined by multiple genes which expression is largely influenced by the environment. We need more detailed pools of information to understand the links between genes, environment, and phenotypes. This requires in-depth investigation such as metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics. Innovative solutions for farming require taking into account the various environmental contexts of agriculture in Europe since there will certainly be no unique model of farming but several more or less adapted to specific pedo-climatic and cultural conditions. Ruminants are more and more used as models for studying human disorders such as reproductive or development disorders. Emerging scientific approaches and tools including tools for biomedical research are likely to further feed back agricultural research, especially to develop non-invasive investigation techniques (e.g. imagery). Such changes already started in most places in Europe however they are limited by funding possibilities and the difficult access to sophisticated investigation techniques.
Close coordination between researchers will be crucial to design innovative solutions to help farming cope with global challenges, to increase the efficiency of research, and make European research more visible within Europe and on the international scene to attract funding. Solutions should be conceived thanks to cross-fertilisation between scientists from various backgrounds (disciplines or geographic origins) and studied in various contexts. Such cross-fertilisation and testing could take place in a shared infrastructure. In addition, experimental facilities should work together to develop investigation methods (less invasive, more precise) and should have close links with 'omics' platforms.
At the moment, the most suitable organisation seems a network of existing facilities which would increase the visibility and efficiency of research while minimising the cost of coordination. A shared infrastructure will certainly help research on ruminants and be very beneficial to this sector which at the moment appeared very disperse and not visible. It is seen as one tool among others (training networks, projects) to increase the quality and the efficiency of European research.
More than 3 000 scientific articles are published per year on ruminants with a slight increase over time. This gives Europe a leading position in the world, with more than 400 European institutes or universities involved. The collaborations within Europe and between Europe and outside Europe are extensive but collaborations with Eastern Europe remain limited.
Cattle are the predominant ruminant species studied, followed by sheep and goats. The publications concern mainly veterinary sciences, agriculture, dairy and animal science, food science and technology. This apparent stability hides profound recent changes in terms of topics and methods.
Research on ruminants need to address new challenges at global level: food security, climate change, sustainability of production systems (including protection of the environment and animals, and social equity). Innovative solutions require integrated applications of existing knowledge, science and technology; interdisciplinarity networks; increased participation of stakeholders.
In the past, functional traits that were looked for (e.g. growth rate) were generally controlled by few genes. Nowadays, more complex traits like fertility or behaviour are addressed. Such traits are often determined by multiple genes which expression is largely influenced by the environment. We need more detailed pools of information to understand the links between genes, environment, and phenotypes. This requires in-depth investigation such as metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics. Innovative solutions for farming require taking into account the various environmental contexts of agriculture in Europe since there will certainly be no unique model of farming but several more or less adapted to specific pedo-climatic and cultural conditions. Ruminants are more and more used as models for studying human disorders such as reproductive or development disorders. Emerging scientific approaches and tools including tools for biomedical research are likely to further feed back agricultural research, especially to develop non-invasive investigation techniques (e.g. imagery). Such changes already started in most places in Europe however they are limited by funding possibilities and the difficult access to sophisticated investigation techniques.
Close coordination between researchers will be crucial to design innovative solutions to help farming cope with global challenges, to increase the efficiency of research, and make European research more visible within Europe and on the international scene to attract funding. Solutions should be conceived thanks to cross-fertilisation between scientists from various backgrounds (disciplines or geographic origins) and studied in various contexts. Such cross-fertilisation and testing could take place in a shared infrastructure. In addition, experimental facilities should work together to develop investigation methods (less invasive, more precise) and should have close links with 'omics' platforms.
At the moment, the most suitable organisation seems a network of existing facilities which would increase the visibility and efficiency of research while minimising the cost of coordination. A shared infrastructure will certainly help research on ruminants and be very beneficial to this sector which at the moment appeared very disperse and not visible. It is seen as one tool among others (training networks, projects) to increase the quality and the efficiency of European research.