Mining microarrays for development of innovative tools for fish health in aquaculture

The UK's salmon industry is the 3rd largest in the world, with govt. ambitions for it to grow by 50% by 2020. Improved fish health is key to growth and sustainability in the UK salmon farming industry, and this can be faciliated through development of new and improved biomarkers for determination of the health status of fish populations.
This project will involve detailed mining of microarrays from key salmon tissues sampled at important periods in the salmon production cycle in order to develop modern methods for establishing health status of fish in culture. Such information will facilitate management decisions in respect of husbandry procedures which may involve prevention, management or treatment of disease and so improve overall survival and welfare in farmed salmon populations, leading to improved profitability and sustainability for the salmon production sector.