Animal sciences

The division is focused on breeding and genetics, genomics, feeding and nutrition, farming and processing technologies, systems and practices applied in all main animal value chains for efficient, high-quality, safe and sustainable production of food of animal origin.

Keywords: Breeding, Eggs, Farming, Feeding, Fish, Genetics, Meat, Nutrition, Pig, Poultry, Rabbit, Ruminant, Slaughtering, Sustainability, Welfare

Main research fields

Research activities aim at developing sustainable animal production systems to address the needs of all main animal production chains through:

Analysis of animal genomes, application of animal genetics, genomics, transcriptomics and phenomics for sustainable animal breeding and productions
Sustainable conservation and use of animal genetic resources
Application of molecular genetics for authentication and traceability of food products
Feeding strategies to improve milk, meat and egg quality, nutrient utilization and retention, gut microbial balance, and efficiency
Farming strategies to reduce the use of antimicrobials in livestock and to improve animal welfare and health, product safety and quality
Assessment and reduction of the environmental impact of animal production systems
Precision livestock farming and sustainability of animal production systems
Quality indexes and safety assessment of raw and processed foods of animal origin
Identification of porcine and poultry muscle abnormalities and effects on meat quality
Development of animal welfare indicators at farm, during transport and at slaughter.