Apply now for the Free AQUAEXCEL2020 distance learning course: “Training in the use of the fish & chips tool”

Course description

How do you improve analysis and functional interpretation of transcriptomic data? Training in the use of the FISH & CHIPS tool can help! FISH & CHIPS is a database containing public transcriptomic data related to fish species in various physiological conditions. The bioinformatic tool can be used to extract genes which would have similar expression patterns and thus could be characteristic of fish biological responses. By comparing data obtained in your experiment with data sets of microarrays or RNAseq obtained in various fish species, we can find a common transcriptional signature. Information given by samples of each experiment with a common signature is a powerful way to explore functional roles associated with these signatures. This training course presents the FISH & CHIPS tool and explains how to carry out such meta-analysis and interpret your set of genomic data.

Course content

This course will teach participants how to develop a meta-analysis of transcriptomic data and how to use the FISH & CHIPS tool to do so. The course also provides the opportunity to practice on a case study. Following this training, users should be able to develop analyses of their own data sets.

Target audience

This course is designed for people who want to improve analysis and functional interpretation of their transcriptomic data obtained in fish. This includes postgraduate students, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and researchers with a basic knowledge on genomic and gene expression.

Location: Online.

Download (PDF, 753KB)

EATiP Looking For synergies With the European insect sector

‘The European insect sector supports the development of research projects in line with its regulatory calendar’

Brussels, 4th of December 2019

Press release from IPIFF (International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed) 

 

Gathered in the EU’s capital for the International Workshop entitled ‘Unleashing the Circularity Potential of the European Insect Sector through Research and Innovation’ and the IPIFF General Assembly, the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) – the Brussels-based umbrella organisation representing stakeholders active across the insect production value chains – reiterated the importance of synergetic research initiatives, developed in harmony with the regulatory calendar of the sector and markets’ needs.

 

Introducing the event, Cindy Schoumacher (European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation) presented an overview of the FOOD 2030 strategy, underlining the important role of the protein transition in the context of European, as well as global challenges. To this end, the keynote speaker of the Workshop highlighted that further research in the field of insect farming has the potential to offer reliable and practical solutions to the agri-food nexus. ‘The alternative proteins sector, including insects, will play a major role in contributing to sustainable, healthier, climate-resilient food systems, providing new business opportunities for actors in the food systems’, concluded Ms Schoumacher.

 

‘IPIFF’s role is to establish an efficient and engaging dialogue with actors from across the food and feed chains. Up-to-date science-based evidence will allow us to better communicate our messages to authorities, helping us to unlock certain regulatory opportunities’, added IPIFF’s President, Antoine Hubert. ‘We believe that new substrates authorised in insect farming, such as former foodstuffs with meat and fish will further upcycle nutrients from underutilised streams, reducing the pressure on natural resources and providing local solutions that can complement today’s feed ingredients’.

 

On the occasion of this International Conference, the IPIFF Executive Committee Member in charge of research Lars-Henrik Lau Heckmann – presented the latest IPIFF publication, ‘Building bridges between the insect production chains, research and policymakers’ – a brochure developed by the association as a Contribution Paper to the public consultation on the architecture of the Horizon European Research and Innovation programme.
‘The research priorities our sector had identified are meant to contribute with realistic solutions to reducing food waste, improving soil fertility, while also offering healthy food for both humans and animals. We need insects not only to boost the circularity of our food-producing systems, but also for their sustainability credentials’, concluded Dr Lau Heckmann.

 

Organised in a multistakeholder approach, the two sessions of the Workshop brought together experts from numerous fields – such as investment research, aquaculture, poultry and pig farming, food and feed industries and policymakers, as well as more than 130 actors active in the insect production value chains. ‘It is our role to make sure that future regulatory developments are backed by scientific evidence. Thus, we are confident that the future framework of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme will be a catalyst for unleashing the circularity potential of the European insect sector’ concluded Henrich Katz, IPIFF’ Treasurer.

 

For more information, please contact     

IPIFF Secretariat     

Christophe Derrien

T: +32 (0)4 86 44 94 76

christophe.derrien@ipiff.org

 

Constantin Muraru

Tel: +32(0)2 743 29 97

info@ipiff.org

 

www.ipiff.org

 

The International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) is a non-profit organisation which represents the interests of the insect production sector towards EU policy makers, European stakeholders and citizens. Composed of more than 50 members, most of which are European insect producing companies, IPIFF promotes the use of insects and insect-derived products as top tier source of nutrients for human consumption and animal feed.

Low Trophic Aquaculture Value Chain Report

Photo credit: Wald Fredriksen

Under the slogan “Our Future – Growing from water”, the Aquaculture Europe 2019 conference addressed innovative ways to support the aquaculture economy. This year, the European Commission DG RTD unit “Healthy Oceans & Seas” and the EATiP co-organised a full day programme called “Low impact – High output”. It addressed future opportunities of new value chains in aquaculture, specifically targeting low trophic species.

Through three consecutive sessions, major outcomes of European technology and innovation efforts contributing to ensuring food and nutrition security were presented, followed by industry-driven panel discussions where the audience had the chance to participate. The sessions provided a dissemination arena and high visibility of EU support to the sector. They also generated ideas for future research by linking Horizon 2020 project findings to opportunities for industrial applications and uptake. The AQUAEXCEL2020 session aimed to create a forum for engagement and exchange between researchers and potential industry beneficiaries, focusing on presenting innovative solutions generated by the project with potential high impact on the aquaculture industry.

Read the full report from the EU-EATiP Day here: