Profile

My primary research area is regulation of muscle growth in meat producing animals in relation to performance and meat quality traits. Muscle growth (cell proliferation and protein turnover) is studied both in vivo and in vitro. In vivo studies are used to study the relationships between muscle growth processes and meat quality traits. Muscle growth is quantified by comparative slaughter technique, analysis for DNA, RNA, protein, muscle fibre number, and incorporation of [+H] thymidine. Results from such experiments can be used to select the best strategy of improving performance without compromising meat quality. In vitro, experiments are carried out to study regulation of myogenesis, cell proliferation and protein turnover in muscle cell lines. Furthermore, muscle cell lines is used to study the effect of serum from animals treated in different ways. The combination of in vivo and in vitro experiments is valuable in interpreting results obtained in vivo.