Research on managing and improving populations at @RoslinInstitute & @TheDickVet. Led by the chief Highlander @GregorGorjanc. Also on fediscience dot org
Joined July 2019
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168 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
1 Jul 2022
A free online course on "Breeding Programme Modelling with AlphaSimR" will launch this summer on @edXOnline!
Discover how breeding and genetics can contribute to #sustainable food production 🌽🥕🍎🐟🐮🐣🐝🐛
Register at edin.ac/3zRo6FW
Read the 🧵!
@wcgalp2022
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HighlanderLab retweeted
9 Jul 2025
New preprint: "Genomic models for accurate estimation of breeding values in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis Bong. Carr)" from the Sitka Spruced project researchsquare.com/article/r…
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HighlanderLab retweeted
11 Aug 2025
AlphaSimR course edin.ac/3wfGSEj Week 3 opens with a discussion on genetic variation between relatives, with a focus on siblings. While mutation is the ultimate source of genetic variation (by introducing new alleles), recombination shuffles it through meiosis.
28 Apr 2025
AlphaSimR course edin.ac/3wfGSEj Week 2: Following the simulation of traits and their genetic and phenotypic values for a trait, we close this week with independent exercises and weekly interview about breeding.
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HighlanderLab retweeted
21 Jul 2025
New preprint: “Modelling the impacts of imports of non-native honey bees into the native Apis mellifera mellifera population in Ireland”. We used stochastic simulations to study how non-native genes spread over time and affect fitness and honey production. doi.org/10.1101/2025.07.16.6…
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HighlanderLab retweeted
28 Aug 2025
Four professors from the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health and the Roslin Institute will share their career and research journeys so far at an inaugural lecture showcase marking ten years of science at CTLGH.
Free and open to all. Please register ⬇️
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HighlanderLab retweeted
7 May 2025
Please share: Registration is now open for EUCARPIA Biometrics in Plant Breeding 2025 highlanderlab.github.io/EUCA…
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HighlanderLab retweeted
8 May 2025
* Imprinting / gametic models on simulated and real beef data David Lopez Carbonell
* Selection for stability in plant breeding Dominic Waters
* Tracking inheritance of alleles within a dog pedigree Rosalind Craddock
* EUCARPIA Conference organisation highlanderlab.github.io/EUCA…
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HighlanderLab retweeted
8 May 2025
I feel blessed & hyped after another fantastic HighlanderLab meeting covering:
* Selective breeding of artemia Bruna Santana
* Selection index (Smith-Hazel, desired gains, economic weights, …) @dantolly19
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19 Mar 2025
It can be tricky to visualise large #pedigrees. We have develped 'randPedPCA' for running #PCA on large pedigrees (can be >1M individuals). Check out our preprint doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.17.6… and the R package github.com/HighlanderLab/Ran… @GregorGorjanc @epigenci @hannes_becher
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HighlanderLab retweeted
3 Feb 2025
Lastly I gave a short course on Stochastic simulations of breeding programmes with AlphaSimR - a teaser for our free on-line course edx.org/learn/animal-breedin…
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HighlanderLab retweeted
3 Feb 2025
@janaobsteter presented the work of Laura Strachan on Optimizing pedigree reconstruction and patriline determination in honeybees (with Jernej Bubnič and Janez Presern)
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HighlanderLab retweeted
3 Feb 2025
@Ireneee_dc presented her work on Modelling the Impact of Non-Native Honey Bee Importation on Native Apis mellifera mellifera Populations (with Laura Strachan, Grace McCormack, Jana Obšteter)
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HighlanderLab retweeted
3 Feb 2025
I presented the work of Letícia Lara on Evaluation of selective breeding programme designs for black soldier fly larvae body weight (with María Martínez Castillero, Thiago Oliveira, Ivan Pocrnić, Jana Obšteter)
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HighlanderLab retweeted
3 Feb 2025
Last week some of us attended the 1st @EAAPofficial Insect Genetics Workshop, which was organised with COST InsectIMP @CA22140 Action action by @beegirl_nz and @janaobsteter . We presented
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
In cross-validation for yield prediction, the ARG-based branch relationship matrix (BRM) demonstrated higher predictive ability than the standard site-based relationship matrix (SRM) when combining both subspecies.
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
GWAS hits with SRM (A) and BRM (B) were similar
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
(A) The standard site-based relationship matrix (SRM, VanRaden’s) and (B) the ARG-based branch relationship matrix (BRM) revealed similar population structure, with highly correlated (C) diagonal and (D) off-diagonal elements, though on different scales.
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
The age distributions for (A) nodes (ancestors), (B) mutations, and (C) SNP sites (i.e., first mutation at each site) were heavily right-skewed towards the present (as expected).
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
The ARG encoded genomic data more efficiently than the standard VCF: the tree sequence file for all chromosomes was 62 MB, compared to 228 MB for the VCF—nearly four times smaller!
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
Local trees from two genomic regions showed distinct patterns: (A) revealed deep separation between indica and japonica, linked to the DST gene associated with panicle length in japonica. The (B) region segregated in both subspecies and was linked to panicle traits in both.
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HighlanderLab retweeted
23 Jan 2025
After building the ARG, we demonstrated it captures biological signals using genealogical nearest neighbors (GNN) - it clearly distinguished indica and japonica rice subspecies and effectively represented population structure.
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