Key Themes

• Interdisciplinary Dialogue: Bridging the gap between genetics, neuroscience, animal ethology, and breeding practices.

• Affective Phenotyping (Observational and High Throughput): Discussing innovative approaches to monitor and assess affective traits, including artificial intelligence and other tools for high-throughput phenotyping.

• Comparative Genomics and Evolution: Exploring how evolution has shaped animal nervous systems and affective traits via often highly conserved genes.

• Affective Neuroscience: Understanding the neurological underpinnings of emotions in animals and how genetics influence these affective states.

• Mendelian and Polygenic Affective Traits: Investigating the role of Mendelian (single gene) and polygenic traits in shaping animal affect, with insights from biomedical research, studies of extremotolerant breeds/species, and human case studies.

• Opinion Research on Animal Breeding: Highlighting bioethical, public opinion, and other social science research 

Conference Overview

This conference focuses on understanding the genetic basis of affective states, examining both Mendelian (single gene) and polygenic traits. It explores how genetic influences shape affective traits and strategies to, in the course of animal breeding, avoid selecting genetic variants that increase the risk of neurological disorders—especially those that predispose animals to excessive emotional distress or mask such states. 

The polygenic portion will address the challenges of monitoring affective states, including the use of machine learning for high-throughput phenotyping. The Mendelian portion will explore insights from biomedical studies, examining examples of reduced negative affect across the animal kingdom.

A key focus is identifying naturally occurring gene variants within populations that may improve animal welfare. The conference also examines animal breeds and wild species thriving in extreme environments, such as those enduring extreme temperatures or variations in gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide. These studies provide insights into how such conditions may have not only shaped animal bodies in a general sense but also how their nervous systems may have adapted to reduce emotional distress.

Additionally, the Mendelian component will draw from studies of model organisms, such as rodents and flies, which share many genes with farm animals, pets, and other domestic species. These studies lay the groundwork for understanding genetic parallels across species. The conference will feature case studies from wild species and humans, illustrating altered intensity, duration, and propensity toward negative affective states.

In conclusion, ethicists and public opinion researchers will join in to discuss the implications of findings and how they may be applied to align with societal values.

Speakers

• Luiz Fernando Brito Quantitative Genetics and Genomics Purdue University

• Yuval Cinnamon Towards a Humane and Sustainable Solution: A Genetic Model to Eliminate Male Chick Culling in the Egg Industry Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Institute

• Michael Mendl Animal Affect University of Bristol

• Suresh Neethirajan Decoding Animal Emotions: Advancing Livestock Welfare Through AI-Powered Biometric Analysis Dalhousie University

• Ruth C. Newberry Challenges and Opportunities in the Phenotyping of Joy Norwegian University of Life Sciences

• Juan Steibel High-throughput Phenotyping Iowa State University
  

(More speakers to be announced soon)

Organizers

• Clark Wolf Iowa State University

• Jacob Shwartz-Lucas Animal Pain Research Institute

• Luiz Fernando Brito Purdue University

Contact Information: For questions, please contact Jacob at animal pain research institute dot org.