KIWI INNOVATORS MAXIMISING THE GENETIC BREW Matt Littlejohn is a gene hunter. The Livestock Improvement Corporation senior scientist admits his adventures don’t quite match a day in the life of Indiana Jones, but when his team at the University of Auckland discovers the genetic equivalent of the Crystal Skull, it’s “a big deal." "When you get a whiff of one of them genetic variations and prove that it’s real, it’s a real rush,” he says. A rush that can become a windfall for the dairy industry and economy in easing out a negative genetic variation in the national herd and favouring more profitable counterparts. A rush that Littlejohn and the students he works with have enjoyed a number of times. They won the international race to isolate a hairy genetic mutation, and discovered a variation that allows cattle to tolerate high temperatures, paving the way to breed cows that maintain good milk production in tropical conditions. “When we got there first it was a huge accomplishment,” he says. “When you know you have it nailed, that’s great.” Other achievements include the discovery of several variants that impact on the fat and protein percentage of milk, a part of LIC’s important work to boost the breeding worth of cattle and their contribution to production and profit. It was human genetics that first held Littlejohn’s interest, driving his studies at Waikato, Canterbury and finally Otago University, where he completed his PhD in bio-chemistry. But he soon realised there were greater opportunities for success and change in animal genetics. “In the agricultural sector you can make great progress and you can be involved in quite practical outcomes and enact real change.” Some of that change involves data-mining and computer work, like that done by his LIC colleagues in Hamilton. But Littlejohn’s work, co-funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Primary Growth Partnership, involves lab tests and using a “biological suite of tools” to hunt and prove the existence of those elusive variants. “What the PGP funding has done is enable us to get involved with the DNA sequencing revolution that is happening in biology right now, enabling us to make much faster progress for the identification of genes and mutations with importance to the dairy industry,” he says. Those genetic changes don’t need to be big to have an impact on the industry. “Over enough generations you can make changes in the national dairy herd. If you alter the milk component by just one per cent that adds up to a big deal at the herd level.” TIMES THEY ARE ACHANGING… Things have changed since New Zealand’s most acclaimed wine writer Michael Cooper started tasting wines for his annual buyer’s guide 25 years ago. In 1992, that guide included 800 wines and ran to 279 pages, covering an industry that exported just 7.1 million litres of wine that year. These days, Cooper covers 3000 wines and his buyer’s guide is a little thicker at 600 pages. In fact, he’s tasted more than 100,000 wines for his books, aimed at offering independent wine reviews to the average wine lover. Over the quarter century: • Total vineyard area in New Zealand has increased from 6099 hectares to 36,192 hectares this year…a six-fold increase • Production has increased from 41.6 million litres of wine to 313.9 million litres, up more than 750% • Exports have increased from 7.1 million litres worth $34 million to 213.4 million litres worth $1.57 billion…an increase of more than 3000%. In recognising that there’s no shortage of good wine, Cooper has focused on each wine’s quality and value, describing each in detail and then rating for quality and value-for-money. This year’s 25th edition includes new tasting notes and ratings suitable for amateurs and established wine-buffs alike. New Zealand Wines 2017, Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide will be published by Upstart Media on November 10, with a RRP of $39.99. Lucky reader Artika Sen from AsureQuality has won a copy of this book. www.foodtechnology.co.nz 37 Photo credit: Simon Young
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