Swine geneticist, Iowa State University Agricultural research is a legacy of Iowa State University since since it was established in 1858 as a land-grant university. In 1980, Max Rothschild joined that legacy. He serves as the C.F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Ensminger Endowed Chair of International Agriculture. His field: animal genetics and genomics. In particular, Rothschild focuses on pigs. He discovered genes used to
genetics
FUNDED LATELY: LEAH Laboratories
LEAH (Lifengine Animal Health) Laboratories: $50,000 seed investment by the Ag Startup Engine at Iowa State University. LEAH Laboratories’ technology enables precision gene editing for treatment of B cell lymphoma in dogs, the most commonly managed cancer in veterinary oncology. LEAH Labs is the eight startup Ag Startup Engine has invested in since forming in 2016.
UI, Texas lab to share discovery credit for protein-coding gene
An Iowa and Texas lab are sharing credit for the serendipitous, concurrent discovery of a protein-coding gene. The Daily Iowan reports that findings from the University of Iowa Boudreau Lab and a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center lab were published side-by-side in the journal Cell Reports, for the gene that UI investigators call “Mitoregulin,” and the Texas lab calls “MOXI,” an acronym for “micropeptide regulator of beta-oxidation.” The official