31 July 2006 Lincoln University – significant 'discoveries'

Feature for the Dominion Post

New Sheep Breed

Development in the 1960s of the Coopworth sheep – New Zealand's second most numerous sheep breed by Professor Ian Coop and Mr Vern Clark of Lincoln University.

The aim was to develop more fertile ewes producing faster-growing, bigger lambs for the British market. Lambing percentages were low at the time, not having moved much from the 85 percent of 1900.

When Coop and Clark started their research the majority of terminal sires used in New Zealand were Southdowns but they showed it was possible to do better by using heavier terminal sires than the Southdown.

They showed that the Border Leicester over the Corriedale and over the Romney increased the lambing percentage by 25 percent. They then thought if the Border Leicester-Romney could do 25 percent better than the pure Romney then why not see if a pure breeding Border-Romney could be produced. This was the genesis of the Coopworth. In 1968 the Coopworth Society was founded and today the Coopworth is New Zealand's second most numerous sheep breed.

Ian Coop, now retired, is Emeritus Professor of Animal Science.

First animal genetic engineering

In June 1989 a group of Lincoln University researchers under molecular biologist Dr Sami Damak and Professor of Biochemistry David Bullock produced New Zealand's first transgenic animal. That is, a species (in this case a mouse) carrying genetic material introduced by laboratory manipulation from another animal (a rabbit).

This was the first animal "genetic engineering" achieved in New Zealand.

Dr Damak left Lincoln University for a position in the United States of America.

First genetically engineered sheep and "super woolly" sheep

With the knowledge that they had the ability to carry out genetic engineering, the Lincoln University team responsible for the transgenic mouse turned their attention to New Zealand's most productively important animal, the sheep.

In June 1991 Lincoln University introduced "Alexander” to the world. Alexander, a Coopworth lamb, was New Zealand's first genetically engineered sheep. The lamb carried a marker enzyme introduced to test the gene transfer procedure.

Subsequently other lambs were produced with an extra gene to stimulate the wool follicle, the aim was to produce a "super woolly" sheep.

Eventually several lines of transgenic sheep were bred at Lincoln expressing transferred genetic material related to wool production. Most of the sheep gave about 6-10 percent more wool than non-transgenic control animals.

Lincoln's "super woolly sheep" programme lapsed with the departure of Professor of Biochemistry David Bullock for an overseas appointment. The transgenic sheep became involved in significant other studies on a rare human degenerative neurological disorder, Batten disease, which has similarities with disorders such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease.

David Bullock is now Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry.

Equine reproductive physiology

Veterinarian and endocrinologist Professor Cliff Irvine delivered a paper at Cambridge University in 1974 which described changes in hormone levels in mares and was widely acclaimed as a landmark contribution in reproductive physiology.

The basis of the acclaim was Professor Irvine's pioneering of a non-surgical technique for gaining access to all the chemical compounds going into and coming from the pituitary gland in horses. The technique, known as cannulation, involved inserting a catheter along sinus pathways that carried blood from the pituitary gland to the outside veins. Cannulation allowed sequential blood sampling to be undertaken on the fully conscious horse as opposed to post-mortem sampling which was not thought to represent accurately the full range of hormones produced by the pituitary gland of healthy, living animals.

With the sampling technique Professor Irvine and his team were able to derive fundamental information about gonadotrophin secretion, changes in the gonadal steroids and the effects of endogenous opiates on seasonal breeding and reproduction cycles in mares, factors affecting sexual arousal in stallions and causes of infertility in both sexes, circadian rhythms in cortisol excretion and mechanisms and responses to stress and the effects of thyroid hormones in horses. The information gained has had wide application in the field of neuro­endocrinology including human medicine and studies of how the brain controls stress responses.

Cliff Irvine, now retired, is Emeritus Professor of Veterinary Science.

Cool climate grape growing and wine production

It is no exaggeration to say that New Zealand's cool climate grape growing and wine production industry began with research at Lincoln University. What is now a multi-million dollar business started with a $500 research grant awarded to Dr David Jackson in 1973 to investigate the "odd ball idea" he says he had about growing grapes in Canterbury. In an experimental vineyard Dr Jackson and Danny Schuster (who at that stage was helping a Lincoln University scientist make cider from Canterbury apples) established an experimental vineyard and investigated appropriate grape varieties and cultivars for the cooler Canterbury conditions. They planted and experimented with 20 different varieties, increasing the number to 60 within two years.

From that beginning brothers Robin and Norman Mundy, Christchurch market gardeners looking for a new horticultural venture, took the research recommendations and planted Canterbury's first commercial vineyard (St Helena Wine Estate) based on cuttings from the varieties grown at Lincoln University. St Helena's first commercial vintage, 1981, sold out in one day and the following year it won a national gold medal for a Pinot Noir establishing Canterbury on the path to being the important New Zealand wine producing region it is today.

David Jackson retired from Lincoln University as Associate Professor of Horticulture.

Artificial intelligence system for fault diagnosis in an electricity distribution system

In the late 1990s and into the new millennium Dr Ramesh Rayudu, working under the supervision of Dr Sandhya Samarasinghe of Lincoln University's Natural Resources Engineering Group, produced one of the world's most advanced artificial intelligence frameworks for diagnosing faults in electricity transmission networks. This involved devising a computer-based framework for fault analysis and diagnosis within New Zealand's power transmission network. When a fault occurs on the network, Dr Rayudu's system analyses the fault information and provides appropriate diagnostic information to the controller for the restoration of service. Consumers benefit from a reduction in the length of power cuts, through quicker problem diagnosis and the industry benefits through revenue gains from the reduced downtime of its systems and more rapid restoration of supply to customers.

Dr Rayudu's work has been described as at the high end of artificial intelligence and pushing the boundaries of existing artificial intelligence techniques. The research was supported by TransPower NZ Ltd.

Dr Rayudu is now a staff member at Massey University.

Ian Collins, Communications Group, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand