This page collects RUMIGEN presentations from the GEroNIMO & RUMIGEN Joint Final Event, held on 15 April 2026 in Brussels.
The content is organised by session and includes the titles of the talks and the respective speakers. It is intended as a reference for gathering and managing presentation materials shared during the event.
The agenda is available here.
📌 SESSION 1 – 08:30
Social Acceptance of New Breeding Technologies
- Beyond ‘experts only’: on the importance of stakeholder and public engagement in the debate on innovations in breeding – Franck Meijboom
- Make it make sense!: From citizen engagement to useful guidance – Rasmus Mikkelsen
Panel discussion
📌 SESSION 2 – 10:20
Editing for Resilience and Welfare
- Gene editing to support genetic improvement in livestock – Simon Lillico
- Epigenome editing in animal production: A prospective review – Guillaume Devailly
- The management of rare alleles, including GE, in breeding schemes – Theo Meuwissen
- Simulating scenarios of gene editing in dual-purpose chicken breeding programs – Edward Chuang
- Gene editing of livestock raised for agricultural purposes – Alison Van Eenennaam
📌 SESSION 3 – 13:40
Epigenetics: A new lever to Resilience and Efficiency?
- The RUMIGEN EpiChip, a sensor of environment and breeding practices – Gabriel Costa Monteiro Moreira
- Epigenetic dynamics in the chicken brain throughout animal life – Carlos Guerrero Bosagna
- The sperm epigenome: role in male fertility, transmission, and impact on offspring phenotype – Hélène Kiefer
- Molecular fingerprints of pig male reproduction from omics data – Pedro Sa
- Integration of GEroNIMO omics data to reveal details about the genetic architecture behind efficiency-related traits – Peter Karlskov-Mortensen
- The RUMIGEN EpiChip: integration of epigenetics into dairy cow selection – Marie-Pierre Sanchez
- Tagging non-genetic inheritance using the transmissibility models – Ingrid David
📌 SESSION 4 – 16:00
Next-Generation Selection
- Selection, genetic load and diversity – Gwendal Restoux
- Trade-offs – evolution and use in breeding strategies – Mario Calus
- Including methylation in genomic prediction – Ioanna Vourlaki & Levi Ayres
- Selection strategies for heat-stress tolerance – Sophie Mattalia
- Perspectives on the use of the EpiChip for breeding and animal husbandry purposes – Oscar Gonzales-Recio
- Strategies to maintain and improve local and small breeds – Marie-José Mercat
Panel discussion
- Valerio Abbadessa, (Research and Innovation Unit, DG AGRI)