Next Gen Porcine Genetics and Genomics: Implications for Health

Dear Colleagues,

This Genes proposal provides futuristic perspectives with respect to emerging tools and techniques related to porcine genetics and genomics, with an emphasis on biomedical applications and implications for health. The pig (Sus scrofa) was domesticated ∼10,000 years ago in multiple locations across Eurasia and since then has become an invaluable agricultural species. In addition, its use in biomedical research and medical training is well established and anticipated to increase with the emergence of gene-editing technologies for development of new human disease models. The recent completion of an improved porcine reference genome (Sscrofa11.1) provides an opportunity for the porcine genetics and genomics community to improve its understanding of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying agriculturally and biomedically relevant phenotypes. This high-quality annotated reference genome sequence has already proven to be a critical framework for comparing individual genomes. Furthermore, the genome sequence also provides a valuable resource enabling effective uses of pigs, both in agricultural production and biomedical research. This Special Issue will focus on the continued development of tools, methodologies, and databases required to advance our knowledge of porcine genetics and genomics. Contributions to this call will expand our knowledge of the genomic and epigenomic mechanisms underlying agricultural and biomedically relevant phenotypes. The scope of topics includes development of novel porcine genomic tools, integration of multi-omics analyses, utilization of machine learning approaches, elucidation of molecular mechanisms underlying relevant phenotypes, and improving health for both pigs and humans. Comparative genomic analysis with humans and other relevant agricultural and biomedical species will also be covered, as will the development of genetically edited pigs for agricultural and biomedical purposes.

Dr. Lawrence Schook
Dr. Kyle Schachtschneider
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Pigs; Health; Biomedical Models; Genomics; Epigenomics; Gene editing