Founded:
Full Time: 16
Part Time: 0
Budget: 1,226,660.00
Director: Paul E. Humes
105 Francioni Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Telephone: 504/388-3241 FAX: 504/388-3279 E-Mail: phumes@agctr.lsu.edu
Research Areas:
The Center's mission is to conduct basic and applied research to develop new technology to improve production efficiency of the Louisiana beef cattle, sheep, swine and horse industries and to develop new information and technology to improve competitiveness of Louisiana red meat value-added industries.
Ongoing projects include development of stem cell lines for use in transgenic animal; research development of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in farm animals for gene incorporation at the time of fertilization in ruminant species; use of tripicolinate and its mechanism in production of lean pork; mechanisms and control of hyperammonemia in ruminants; and use of modified atmospheric packaging to produce case ready packaging of beef at meat packing firms instead of at retail outlets.
Areas of Expertise:
Research scientists have expertise in animal breeding and genetics (two beef cattle geneticists); animal nutrition (two ruminant and one nonruminant); animal reproductive biology (one equine endocrinologist and two embryologists/developmental biologist).
Special Capabilities and Facilities:
Facilities are the Physiology Laboratory at St. Gabriel Research Station. This is one of the leading large animal reproduction laboratories in the U.S. It contains all necessary equipment to perform surgical procedures for oocyte aspirations, embryo recovery, embryo transfer, in vitro fertilization, embryo culture and cryopreservation of embryos and other animal tissue.
Research Equipment:
("s" indicates shared equipment)
The Amino Acid Analyzer develops Amino Acid profiles for any protein (s), Auto Gamma Counter is the quantification of radio labeled research samples (s), Atomic Absorportion Spectrophotometer for mineral analyses, Micro-Manipulators for microscopic surgery (splitting embryos, etc.), Freezing machines are available for programmable freezing of tissues for cryopreservation, and an ultrasound instrument for determining body composition and pregnancy detection.
Keywords:
0201019 Animal Science
0201102 Animal Reproductive Biology
0201015 Animal Feeds/Nutrition
0201016 Animal Genetics/Breeding
0201101 Agricultural Biotechnology
0203014 Meat and Meat Products
0201039 Livestock
1002008 Molecular Biology
1002017 Embryology
1002049 Cloning of Cells
1002052 Animal Development
1002055 Equine Studies
1002087 Muscle Structure/Function