Principal Scientist Martin Lidauer appointed as research professor
Principal Scientist Martin Lidauer has been appointed as a Research Professor in the genomics and breeding research group of the Production Systems unit of Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Lidauer started in his new position on 01/08/2022.
Before his duties as a Research Professor, Lidauer worked as a Principal Scientist at Luke. Among other things, he was responsible for research projects whose goal was to develop new properties and methods for reducing the environmental impact of Nordic dairy breeds. As a result of international research, environmentally friendly properties are now also taken into account in dairy cattle breeding in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
For Lidauer, the appointment was a positive surprise.
“The task is very interesting, but also demanding. It will also be rewarding, because our research into quantitative genetics is very relevant, and there are excellent researchers and colleagues in the research groups,” Lidauer says.
Lidauer’s duties as a research professor will continue with the current research work, i.e. in the animal genetics research team. In addition, an important new research target is the utilisation of quantitative genetics methods in plant and forest tree breeding.
“The research target in the work are solutions based on quantitative genetics, which promote the wellbeing, environmental friendliness and international competitiveness of livestock bred for Finnish conditions. The genetic progress of Finnish dairy breeds has reduced the carbon footprint by one third per one kilogram of milk over the last 50 years. The new breeding features and models developed at Luke accelerate the positive genetic development even further,” says Lidauer.
“Current quantitative genetics methods offer entirely new possibilities, especially for plant breeding. This is because there has been huge progress in the last decade in the inclusion of genetic information (SNP markers of individuals) in quantitative genetics methods. This enables the kinship between individuals to be better taken into account in plant breeding. For example, it can be used to speed up genetic progress in different properties at the same time, or a gene with an important property can be added to the breeding population,” Lidauer continues.
According to Lidauer, the responsible use of genetics methods can make a significant contribution to addressing the food and environmental crisis.
“Here, researchers are in a very important position in contributing to the care and development of animals and plants so that they remain sources of wellbeing and joy for future generations as well,” says Lidauer.
Research professors are in key positions for the scientific expertise and international visibility and effectiveness of Luke. The aim is to ensure top-level research in fields that are strategic for Luke, as well as applicability of research in business.
