23 May 1995 The Worm Turns (For Scrutiny) And Other Sheepish Tales

What do Lincoln University and the Scottish Agricultural College have in common? Two things, at least – overfat lambs and sheep with worms! To help the pursuit of this commonality of interests, the British Council has funded a new exchange scheme between the two institutions.

Now, over the next three years staff from Lincoln's Animal and Veterinary Sciences Group and the Scottish Agricultural College's Genetics and Behavioural Sciences Department in Edinburgh will be able to visit each other to share research ideas and, where appropriate, plan joint research projects.

The scheme, which builds on an earlier British Council-funded link between the two institutions, in the mid-1980s, will focus on strategies for breeding leaner lamb and for controlling internal parasites of sheep.

The work on breeding lean lamb will focus on the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Group's recently established facility for whole-body scanning of sheep (Phoenix CT), several experimental sheep selection lines in Lincoln and Edinburgh, and a common interest in the design and operation of sheep sire referencing schemes – cooperative breeding schemes which can accelerate responses to selection for leanness and other economically important characteristics. 

This part of the exchange will involve Dr Mark Young and Phil Beatson of Lincoln and Dr Geoff Simm, Dr Ron Lewis and Dr Joanne Conington of the Scottish Agricultural College.

Grazing and other management techniques for reducing worm burdens, together with the nutritional consequences of parasitism will be the subject for Professor Andrew Sykes and Dr Martin van Houtert of Lincoln and Dr John Oldham, Dr Ilas Kyriazakis and Dr John Vipond of SAC.