The European project AQUA-FAANG aims to improve understanding the genome function and usage of genotype-to-phenotype prediction in the six most important European farmed fish species:
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EUROPEAN SEABASS | GILTHEAD SEABREAM | RAINBOW TROUT | ATLANTIC SALMON | COMMON CARP | TURBOT

AQUA-FAANG brings together world-leading interdisciplinary expertise and industry partners providing direct pathways to commercial exploitation. 
AQUA-FAANG is part of the EuroFAANG platform, a coordinated effort to unravel the connection between the genetic make-up of an animal and the observable physical and physiological traits.

LATEST NEWS

The AQUA-FAANG Mystery Game

19/09/2023
Welcome to the AQUA-FAANG Mystery Game, an interactive adventure designed to immerse you in the secrets and innovations of the AQUA-FAANG project.

AQUA-FAANG is dedicated to advancing the European aquaculture sector through genomics and precision breeding. 
Each scenario offers a unique mystery to solve, with questions that guide you through the AQUA-FAANG project's remarkable journey. Dive in, explore the clues, and unlock the secrets of AQUA-FAANG for a sustainable and prosperous aquaculture future. 

Are you ready to embark on this exciting adventure? Let's begin! 

The final AQUA-FAANG conference is getting closer!

29/08/2023
We are happy to announce that the final AQUA-FAANG conference will take place 11th-13th October 2023 in Edinburgh, UK.

This event will bring together the AQUA-FAANG consortium and stakeholders for the final time, providing a platform to showcase the results achieved over the past four and a half years. 

​More information can be found here.


​Read ACQUA-FAANG's August 2023 Newsletter!

29/08/2023
Step into a realm of pioneering updates with the ACQUA-FAANG Project's latest newsletter.
Witness our progress amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19, explore our strategic dissemination approach, and discover the Project's brochure, find out about the shared workshop and the Annual General Assembly and much more. 

AQUA-FAANG will be present at EAAP Lyon 2023

01/08/2023​
We are glad to announce that the H2020 project AQUA-FAANG will participated in the EuroFAANG scientific session at the upcoming EAAP conference titled: “Genotype-to-phenotype research across Europe and beyond", on Thursday, 31 August in Lyon, France.  
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For further details and registration, click here.

Press release:  EuroFAANG research infrastructure is on track 

22/06/2023
The EuroFAANG cluster addresses challenges in farmed animal production, namely the better use of resources, animal health and welfare, the environment and the climate impact of breeding but also feeding the world with fewer resources.

This is only possible with collaboration with the six partner projects, which tackle a wide range of livestock species, such as farmed fish, ruminants, pigs, and chickens. Set up and led with the joint effort of the six EuroFAANG cluster projects in 2022, a new Horizon Europe project proposal was submitted under the call “Research Infrastructure Concept Development”. 

Successfully approved by the EU, the new EuroFAANG Research Infrastructure (RI) project now thrives on developing a concept for a formalised infrastructure for farmed animal G2P research in Europe (EuroFAANG).

New paper: Conserved and divergent arms of the antiviral response in the duplicated genomes of salmonid fishes 

20/06/2023
We are delighted to announce a new paper from the AQUA-FAANG project!

Antiviral innate immunity is orchestrated by the interferon system, which appeared in ancestors of jawed vertebrates. Interferon upregulation induces hundreds of interferon-stimulated-genes (ISGs) with effector or regulatory functions. Here we investigated the evolutionary diversification of ISG responses through comparison of two salmonid fishes, accounting for the impact of sequential whole genome duplications ancestral to teleosts and salmonids.

We analysed the transcriptomic response of the IFN pathway in the head kidney of rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon, which separated 25–30 Mya. We identified a large set of ISGs conserved in both species and cross-referenced them with zebrafish and human ISGs. In contrast, around one-third of salmonid ISG lacked orthologs in human, mouse, chicken or frog, and often between rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon, revealing a fast-evolving, lineage-specific arm of the antiviral response.

​This study also provides a key resource for in-depth functional analysis of ISGs in salmonids of commercial significance.

Aquaculture Genomics webinar: the last episode is online!

12/06/2023
AQUA-FAANG, jointly with the AquaIMPACT project, organised a series of webinars on Aquaculture Genomics, gathering relevant speakers and stakeholders on very relevant topics such as the disease resistance and immune response, genome editing, or the future of using genomics in aquaculture. 

You can watch now the last episode of the series, which took place in May. 

Aquaculture Genomics webinar: Episodes 1 and 2 now available!

17/05/2023
AQUA-FAANG, jointly with the AquaIMPACT project, organised a series of webinars on Aquaculture Genomics, gathering relevant speakers and stakeholders on very relevant topics such as the disease resistance and immune response, genome editing, or the future of using genomics in aquaculture. 

You can watch now the first two episodes of the series, which took place between March and May 2023. We will publish soon the last episode – Stay tuned for updates! 

Save the date: Final AQUA-FAANG conference

10/05/2023
We are happy to announce that the final AQUA-FAANG conference will take place 11th-13th October 2023 in Edinburgh, UK.

​This event will bring together the AQUA-FAANG consortium and stakeholders for the final time, providing a platform to showcase the results achieved over the past four and a half years. ​

Take part in the webinar series focus on Aquaculture Genomics this Spring

16/03/2023
Together with Aqua IMPACT project, we are organising  webinars focused on Aquaculture Genomics this Spring. 

If you want to learn more, join us at our third meeting: "Genome editing and future advances", on 11 May 2023, between 14h-15h (CEST). 

AGENDA:

AQUAIMPACT "Future advances of using genomics in breeding programs"  by Antti Kause (LUKE)​

AQUA-FAANG "Genome editing for precision breeding" by Diego Robledo (UEDIN)​

​Invited speaker "Social acceptance of NGTs" by Sigrid Bratlie, a partner in the GENEinnovate research consortium and project leader at NCE Heidner Biocluster, Norway

Invited stakeholders:
Alan Tinch (CAT)
Ashie Norris (MOWI)
Join us to learn more about sustainable aquaculture in Europe!

Job Alert: Technician in Quantitative Genetics at CULMAREX GROUP

15/03/2023
The CULMAREX GROUP specializes in the culture of European seabass, Gilthead seabream, and Meagre is seeking to fulfill the following job position: Technician in quantitative genetics.

Starting date: 1 April 2023
Workplace: Spain

See the job offer below and take advantage of this opportunity to be part of the AQUA-FAANG project!

The AQUA FAANG project participated in the latest edition of AquaFarm  

27/02/2023
During the 15th and 16th of February,  the Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science of the University of Padova drew attention to the AQUA FAANG project during the congress Aquafarm2023 held in Italy.

This year, the main theme of the congress was “sustainable aquaculture production”, which is one of the fundamental and global goal of AQUA FAANG. The close collaboration between researchers, aquaculture farms and stakeholders was highlighted, as it is peculiar to achieve the sustainable development goal of the project.

Working together for a sustainable aquaculture!

How is Aqua-FAANG project contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals?

07/02/2023
During the upcoming months, we will introduce you a series of infographics where you can learn more about how our project contributes to a more sustainable aquaculture in Europe. 

Follow us on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook and stay tuned!

The EuroFAANG Glossary - Watch the full series here!

20/01/2023

The 4th issue of AQUA-FAANG newsletter is out!

23/11/2022
We are happy to share the fourth edition of the AQUA-FAANG Newsletter. 

On this new issue, you'll be able to read more about how is the project work progressing, our participation at the WCGALP 2022, how can the AQUA-FAANG results be implemented in Stolt Sea Farm, and much more!

We hope you will enjoy reading!

Now available! AQUA-FAANG animation video in Greek

08/11/2022

Using genetics to support sustainable aquaculture: results from 20 years of breeding rainbow trout

3/11/2022
​The world’s oceans can no longer sustain the ever-rising demand for fish. Aquaculture offers an alternative approach – if production is sustainable and high quality. INRAE, the Aqualande group and its selective breeding company Les Sources de l’Avance, and the French Poultry and Aquaculture Breeders Technical Center (SYSAAF) reviewed data from 20 years of a rainbow trout breeding programme conducted by the company. They compared the growth and nutrition needs of trout from this programme with those of an unselected trout population. Their findings, published in Aquaculture Reports, show that selected trout need 17% to 20% less feed to achieve the same growth as the unselected ones. As a result, the environmental impacts of fish farming can be reduced. A locally produced feed, made without fish oil, fishmeal or soy, was also tested on both groups of fish. The fish fed this “future” feed, which has similar nutritional characteristics, achieved similar growth performance. These unique results show that selective breeding and innovative feed sources can be effectively combined to make aquaculture more sustainable.

​Read the full article and learn more about sustainable aquaculture!

EuroFAANG AQUA-FAANG workshop: methods to use and reuse the AQUA-FAANG data and Ensembl resources to advance science 

27/10/2022
This one and a half day workshop will provide detailed training on methods to use and reuse the wealth of data generated by the EuroFAANG AQUA-FAANG project.

AQUA-FAANG aims to improve understanding the genome function and usage of genotype-to-phenotype prediction in the six most important European farmed fish species (EUROPEAN SEABASS | GILTHEAD SEABREAM | RAINBOW TROUT | ATLANTIC SALMON | COMMON CARP | TURBOT).

The seminar will primarily focus on the comprehensive and integrated annotation of these six species by the Ensembl genome browser. The course will also include a deeper dive from the Ensembl analysis teams into gene annotation and regulation, and demonstrations of the specific analyses and research conducted by AQUA-FAANG scientists.

AQUA-FAANG animation movie in more languages

24/08/2022
The AQUA-FAANG project involves the aquaculture sector in Europe and its six more important farmed fish species. In order to expand and enhance our message, we are happy to introduce you our animation movie in different languages so more people can learn and understand what we do. The movie is now available in Spanish and French. 

¡Aprende más sobre AQUA-FAANG!
En savoir plus sur AQUA-FANG !​

3rd issue of AQUA-FAANG Newsletter is out!

06/07/2022
AQUA-FAANG project is going on with lots of new results, activities and contents, so it's high time we released the 3rd issue of our Newsletter! 

On this freshly baked issue you'll be able to find some of the most relevant scientific publications, the report of our Anual General Meeting in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), featured scientists, partners, video content, and more!

HATCHERY Feed & Management promotes the AQUA-FAANG project

30/06/2022
Picture
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The online site HATCHERY, which specialises in fish breeding and aquaculture, promotes our H2020 project.

AQUA-FAANG improves the understanding of the expression of biological traits in fish.

Learn more about selective breeding by reading this piece of news! 

AQUA-FAANG Young Researchers movie

08/04/2022
AQUA-FAANG project counts on a brilliant team of scientists who are accomplishing relevant research in aquaculture. 

In this video, you'll be able to meet Joanna, Ada and Annemiek, three young researchers who study the genetics of the common carp, one of the six different species within AQUA-FAANG.

Do you want to learn more about the research process they are carrying out? Have a look to our video!

Watch the AQUA-FAANG animated movie

17/03/2022
The AQUA-FAANG project aims to better understand how the genes of fish are being expressed to influence traits of commercial importance. Knowing how the genome functions is crucial for safer and more sustainable aquaculture activities. 

Not only is it relevant what we do, but also how we communicate it. Therefore, we would like to introduce you the AQUA-FAANG animated movie that we have produced for an easy and reachable understanding.

We hope you enjoy watching it!

Scientific terms for everyone

07/03/2022
In most Horizon 2020 projects, the vocabulary is often very much influenced by scientific terms, specific ways of expressing a situation, impact, or a specific scientific area in general.

For us, it is highly important that people outside the labs and libraries understand what is going on, and what a scientific term means. Scientific terms like “DNA Methylation” are not common for the wider citizens of Europe. We want to change this.
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We have discovered a series of scientific terms used in our scientific publications, general content, online debates, and discussions. These are words that the European Union also uses when publishing news, legislation, and policy updates from time to time.

​Over the next 10 weeks, we will explain a series of scientific terms. Explanations will come from a mix of scientists connected to the project with creative animations explaining what the term means and why it is used in relation to EuroFAANG.

​We hope you will enjoy the videos, share them with your network and learn with us! ​

Contact
Project Coordinator
Sigbjørn Lien - NMBU
Project Coordinator
​sigbjorn.lien[at]nmbu.no
Project Deputy Coordinator
Daniel J. Macqueen - UEDIN
​Project Deputy Coordinator
​daniel.macqueen[at]roslin.ed.ac.uk
Communication Manager
Çağla Yüksel Kaya Kuyululu - EFFAB
Communication Manager
cagla.kaya[at]effab.info