Moredun Magazine Autumn/Winter 2021 - issue 22

Moredun ISSUE 22

| AUTUMN/WINTER 2021

magazine

New Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland Gene editing in parasites Moredun Mobile Laboratory

www.moredun.org.uk

Contents

Director’s comment

In this Issue: p1

New Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland

p2

Rural reflections on the Covid pandemic

p5

Access to Knowledge

p6

Moredun Mobile Laboratory

p8

Immune responses to Chlamydia abortus

p9

Parasites and Climate Change

p10

Gene editing of parasites

p13

We all need a farmer A very warm welcome to the Autumn/Winter edition of the Moredun Magazine. We have had a great time over the past few weeks taking our first tentative steps out and about again to several outreach events in our wonderful new Moredun Mobile laboratory (P6-7).

We have been working hard at Moredun to

One of our early career Research Fellows, Dr David Smith, recently won some competitive funding from the Organisation for Economic and Cooperative Development to spend time working at the University of Perugia in Italy to learn some new techniques in editing the genome of parasites. David has provided an account of his time in Perugia along with some stunning images (P10-11).

We are delighted to see our new Moredun Fellowship Programme enabling talented young scientists to pursue research careers.

We were also very pleased that another of our early career scientists, Dr Sean Wattegedera, recently completed a body of research looking at protective immunity against Chlamydia abortus in sheep (P8).

At the AGM of the Moredun Foundation in September, honorary Fellowships were awarded to Gareth Jones from Wales and Willie Stewart from Orkney in recognition of their outstanding contributions (P4). We would also like to warmly congratulate one of our Board members, Dr Kate Richards, who was recently appointed as President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and I was very honoured to take up my new position as Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland that I will combine with my role at Moredun.

I wish you a happy and healthy end to 2021. Let’s see what next year brings us!

progress our research and keep in touch with our farmer membership base. In this edition, we have included a reflective piece on how COVID-19 has affected our rural communities through the eyes of some of the Moredun Regional Advisors located across the UK (P2-3).

Julie Fitzpatrick Scientific Director and Chief Executive

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Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

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Please contact: Moredun Communications Team, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ tel: +44 (0)131 445 5111 fax:+44 (0)131 445 6111 email: info@moredun.org.uk web: www.moredun.org.uk @MoredunComms

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The Moredun Foundation is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC022515 Address: Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ Cover image: Photo: Lee Innes (Moredun)

NEWS

Professor Julie Fitzpatrick OBE has been appointed Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland Professor Julie Fitzpatrick has been appointed as the new Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland, a role she will combine with her current position as Scientific Director of Moredun Research Institute and CEO of the Moredun Group.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Shirley-Anne Somerville has welcomed the appointment of Professor Julie Fitzpatrick as the Scottish Government’s next Chief Scientific Adviser.

Professor Julie Fitzpatrick.

“The past year has highlighted just how important science is to the work of the Scottish Government, and I’m delighted to welcome Professor Fitzpatrick as our new Chief Scientific Adviser. As CSA, Professor Fitzpatrick will play a key role in ensuring that science advice informs the Scottish Government’s work across the board, and adds value to our pandemic response.”

Professor Julie Fitzpatrick said: “I’m very much looking forward to engaging with scientists and engineers inside government and across our science base, to hear more about their inspiring work and how new developments could impact on the work of the Scottish Government. I know that Ministers and officials recognise the value of science and I’m keen to support their work by helping them to access and use science advice and evidence across a range of policy areas.”

Professor Fitzpatrick will remain Scientific Director of the Moredun Research Institute and CEO of the Moredun Group. Ongoing activities will continue with the support of the senior managers across the companies and charities of the Group. Additional responsibilities for scientific strategy and management will be undertaken by Dr Alasdair Nisbet and Dr Tom McNeilly. Moredun

Research Institute will continue to focus on internationally and nationally relevant work on animal and wildlife health, sustainable livestock production, and prevention of infectious disease to support the farming industry during the recovery from Covid-19.

Sir Muir Russell, Chairman of Moredun Research Institute said, “Professor Julie Fitzpatrick has provided world class leadership to the Moredun Research Institute, marked by strong international collaborations and the delivery of diagnostics and vaccines that have made a huge difference to livestock husbandry. She has played an important leadership role in the work of the Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Research Institutes. Her skills and connections make her very well equipped for the role of Chief Scientific Adviser.”

Gareth Baird, Chairman of the Moredun Foundation said, “The whole Moredun family is delighted that Julie`s enormous contribution to animal welfare and the collaborative approach she has taken along with other Scottish Research Institutes in sharing knowledge has been recognised

by Scottish Government in her appointment to this prestigious position”.

New President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Congratulations to Dr Kate Richards, board member of the Moredun Foundation, who was appointed President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in July.

Dr Kate Richards was confirmed as the 150th RCVS President at the College’s 2021 Annual General Meeting, which took place on Friday 9 July.

Kate’s investiture makes her the 10th

female President of the RCVS and the first to lead an all-female presidential team with Senior Vice-President Mandisa Greene and Junior Vice-President Melissa Donald.

During her first speech as RCVS President, Kate spoke about how experiences of loneliness early in her veterinary career, when she was working in rural farm vet practice, has led her to have a deep understanding of the importance of connection, something which has been reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Kate Richards.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

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News Rural reflections on the Covid pandemic

Livestock farming in highlands of Scotland.

How has Covid-19 affected rural communities and what are the main challenges now for the agricultural community? Professor Lee Innes from Moredun spoke with several of Moredun’s Regional Advisors in different parts of the UK to get their reflections on the pandemic.

It is now over a year since the first lockdown in March 2020 and the Covid pandemic has affected all of our lives in so many different ways. As I am writing this, the UK is moving tentatively out of restrictions and people are making plans to see family and friends again and contemplate small gatherings once more.

This has largely been made possible through the development and rollout of vaccines to train our immune systems to fight the virus, reduce transmission and prevent serious disease. Most of my research career has involved the study of infectious diseases and the development of solutions to prevent and control a wide range of different pathogens that cause disease in

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livestock. Many of the farmers we work with are very familiar with biosecurity, testing and diagnostics, quarantine and vaccination and are used to dealing with diseases at a population level when managing the health and welfare of their livestock. Although, this time they had to apply the same principles to themselves to join with the rest of the population in dealing with a rapidly moving global pandemic. Some of the farmers have also mentioned parallels with the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak that occurred in 2001, where they had felt very isolated and worried about disease outbreaks on their farms.

The Covid pandemic has also reminded people of the importance of scientific research to help us to understand pathogens and how they emerge, are transmitted and cause disease. Our work with livestock and the farming community has focussed our research effort to find solutions to disease control and this has often involved vaccination as a very effective method to prevent disease.

While many of us had to significantly

change our working practices and quickly come to terms with remote working through video calls and laptops, farmers across the UK continued their essential work to produce food for the nation.

At the beginning of the first lockdown last year, people started to panic buy produce and many of the supermarkets ran out of stock. It made people start to think more about food supply chains and local food production. One of the positive things that came out of the lockdown was that many people reconnected with their local food outlets and some farmers started to do direct selling to customers within their local communities. The shop local effect was significant and farmers were directly supplying local butchers and wholesalers, with sales at times doubling in volume. This has helped to reconnect people with the food they eat and where it comes from and has also reminded them of the vital work that farmers do to produce high quality food.

During the Covid pandemic, farmers were doing essential work often in remote rural areas, and I spoke to some of the farmers we

NEWS

work with across the UK to ask how their lives had been affected during the pandemic.

As many farmers generally work for long hours on their own, this did not change much for them during Covid lockdown. Where they really felt the difference was when they were attending auction marts and sales where they would normally enjoy the social interactions with others. The farmers also really missed the agricultural and cultural events involving the summer shows and stock judging events, which for some, was the only time of the year they could take a few days to socialise and meet up with other farmers providing a much needed antidote to social isolation and a morale booster. Village life has also changed with pubs and tearooms closed for most of the pandemic and sadly quite a few of these will not be re-opening again. People did say they missed visits to the pubs which tend to be the hub of village life along with events in the village halls and churches.

Younger farmers tended to fare better using social media and felt less isolated compared to the older generation who preferred to do most of their socialising face to face and therefore did struggle more with isolation and loneliness. The other issue that many people in remote rural areas raised was poor broadband connectivity which made it difficult for people to work remotely or attend online meetings and connect with family and friends.

Rural living enabled easier access to the countryside and being closer to nature and

many people commented on how important this was for their mental well-being and how they felt very fortunate compared with others living in flats in cities with limited access to green space. It is now well recognised the many health benefits, both physical and mental, from being close to nature and the Covid lockdown has really brought this into sharp focus for people, in particular those living in cities.

There were concerns raised over health care provision for people living in rural communities and this caused real anxiety in the early days of Covid as people did not really know what they were facing.

There is now a build-up of neglected emotional, mental and physical health issues in many rural communities which may be more difficult to sort than they would have been if investigated earlier. The usual medical services, including mental health provision, have mostly been conducted by telephone and there are many who find it difficult to talk about their feelings on the phone especially when you have to explain to the telephonist why you want a doctor’s appointment, and in a small community the telephonist may be someone you know well.

There was also sensitivity to holidaymakers, in particular with more people doing staycations this year and a dramatic rise in visitor numbers to remote areas of UK putting pressure on local infrastructure and also increasing people’s fears of spreading Covid to rural areas from the cities. One of the

farmers I spoke to who lives in Kent said that he had found it much easier to get around doing his farm work with less traffic and no congestion on the roads, so travelling about has been easier and quicker, such that he didn’t have to start at silly hours of the night to avoid the traffic jams on the M25.

On the positive side, there have been many impressive examples of community spirit emerging in rural areas as volunteers delivered food and medicines to the most vulnerable housebound members of the community and further afield throughout lockdown. Langholm, in the Scottish borders, produced it’s very own ‘Banksy’ – an anonymous individual who painted stones and placed them, under cover of darkness, outside people’s homes, shops and streets with heart-warming messages and illustrations.

So as we look to a post-Covid future, what are the challenges for our farmers and those living in our rural communities?

Many of the older farmers may now be looking at the government exit strategy and Covid may have pushed them to look at leaving the industry earlier. However some of the farmers I spoke with feared that the few smaller farms will not be taken over by younger farmers but amalgamated into larger units. People have had time to stop and think during the Covid pandemic and we have an opportunity to change how we do things going forward. People, care about the countryside and about where their food comes from and care about the quality and safety of the food they buy and how it affects their health and wellbeing. People also shopped more locally during Covid and many farmers sold their produce directly to consumers helping to reconnect people with the food they eat.

There is increasing pressure on our land and natural resources and farmers will be moving towards more sustainable practices to help reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment and we all need to look at ways to improve biodiversity, protect our natural habitats and improve soil fertility going forward. I think the Covid pandemic has also reminded us of the fragility of our world and how important it is to protect our natural environment as it provides us with everything we need to make life possible, food, water, shelter, energy and recreation. We also need to have better understanding and connectivity between our urban and rural communities to

Farming in remote rural areas.

create a fairer and more sustainable future.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

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News Honorary Fellowships for Gareth Jones and William Stewart

From left to right: Willie Stewart, Professor Julie Fitzpatrick, Gareth Baird and Gareth Jones.

The Moredun Foundation, the governing body of Moredun Research Institute, was delighted to award two honorary fellowships to Gareth Jones and William Stewart at its AGM held on Thursday 2nd of September in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the Moredun Group.

Service, now AHVLA, in 1990, working in Stranraer, then Orkney. He has been involved in Scrapie eradication in Orkney and Shetland, and on long distance sea transportation of sheep and cattle from the islands to Aberdeen. Willie is a past chairman of the Orkney Agricultural Discussion Society, a past president of the local Rotary club and a rugby coach.

Willie Stewart graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of veterinary Studies in Edinburgh in 1973 and gained the Certificate in Sheep Health and Production in 1987. He worked in large animal vet practice in Easter Ross and Orkney before joining the State Veterinary

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As well as being a member of the main Moredun Foundation Board, Willie is also the Chairman of Moredun Foundation’s North of Scotland Regional Board and he chaired the audit group at Moredun for several years. Willie was instrumental in making the

connection between the Moredun Foundation and Orkney Livestock Association and in helping to facilitate sampling on livestock farms in Orkney to progress scientific projects involving the transmission of zoonotic pathogens between farm livestock, wildlife and the environment.

Gareth Jones was born in Caernarfen, North Wales and gained a HND in Agriculture from Aberystwyth in 1982. He then managed farms in mid Wales and Hereford before spending two years as a beef specialist with the Meat and Livestock Commission. Gareth is currently the Farm Manager at Rhug, a large organic estate in North Wales which has developed its own retail business over the past ten years. Gareth is a Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) Scholar and past chairman of HCC Scholar’s Association as well as a current member of CARAS Wales Panel. Gareth is the current chairman of BroGeyndwr Male Voice Choir and is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies (FRAgS). As well as being a member of the main Moredun Foundation Board, Gareth is also the Chairman of Moredun Foundation’s Welsh regional board and has been Chair of the Regional Chairs group for a number of years.

At the AGM Gareth Baird, Chairman of the Moredun Foundation said, “It is a huge honour to be able to recognise the contribution of people who really have made a difference.

This year’s recipients have done just that in promoting the work of the Moredun Foundation in the North of Scotland and in Wales and helping to promote the connectivity between the livestock industry in its widest sense to the scientific research conducted at Moredun. We are delighted to recognise the outstanding contribution of both Willie Stewart and Gareth Jones”.

NEWS

Access to Knowledge

Adam Henson hosts event.

Moredun scientists were delighted to contribute to the recent Elanco Animal Health ‘Access to Knowledge’ (A2K) event, held virtually on Fri 17th September. This was one of a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events for vets and RAMAs (Registered Animal Medicines Advisors), and was hosted by none other than Adam Henson, well known farmer and TV presenter.

The programme featured a series of short talks inter-cut with videoclips filmed on location.

One of those locations was the recent Westmorland Show (8th-9th Sept.), and included a visit to the new Moredun outreach bus on-site and short interviews with Moredun scientists, Beth Wells, Dave Bartley and Philip Skuce about Moredun’s history, research and KE activities.

The topic of the September 17th A2K event was Sustainable Parasite Control, with a focus on fluke, and featured a presentation on ‘Liver fluke – the theory’ from Dr Philip

Dr Dave Bartley (Moredun) and Katherine Openshaw (Elanco).

Dr Beth Wells (Moredun) and Katherine Openshaw (Elanco).

Skuce, interfaced with an on-farm piece from Elanco Vet, and former Moredun Regional Advisor, Matt Colston, discussing practical

Dr Philip Skuce (Moredun) and Katherine Openshaw (Elanco).

liver fluke control with Cumbrian farmer, Pete Webster. The programme also included a ‘Parasite Matters’ update from Matt, as well as a thought-provoking presentation from Alison Lambert, vet from OnSwitch Ltd., on encouraging best practice in anthelmintic product choice and parasite control advice to farmers. The session finished with a live and lively Q&A, with lots of pertinent questions from the large audience, some 450 vets and RAMAs were registered to attend. There were live polls and questions to the audience throughout. One key question related to what attendees thought future A2K events should focus on, based on what their farmer clients asked or were concerned about!

Interestingly, topics such as sheep scab, rumen fluke and ‘iceberg diseases’ featured strongly so, hopefully, there will be a demand for Moredun’s input and expertise at future A2K events!

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

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Out and About The new Moredun Mobile Laboratory The new Moredun mobile laboratory and outreach bus (BioBus) has been busy out and about since Covid restrictions were eased and allowed events to go ahead. It has been a great success with staff and visitors alike and has had some VIP visitors, including HRH The Princess Royal at the Scottish Game Fair.

Orkney The first outing with the BioBus was to Orkney on 24th to 27th August, for a range of roles which showed how versatile it is.

Research bus: Moredun scientists, Clare Hamilton, Eleanor Watson, Nuno Silva and Scott Hamilton accompanied Lee Innes and Beth Wells to several farms on Orkney to sample geese, cattle and sheep to further our Mobile lab in Caithness.

Dr Nuno Silva and Dr Clare Hamilton collecting samples.

work on the Orkney Goose Project, working with farmers and policy makers to establish the risk of disease transmission from geese to livestock and people. Here the bus was crucial for the ability to keep samples cool until they were transported back to Moredun.

but the Orkney Goose Project was also discussed with a large audiences of farmers and vets present.

Equine Grass Sickness outreach bus: That evening, Lee Innes and Beth Wells attended a meeting at the Orkney Riding Centre to raise awareness of the EGS project and biobank with horse owners and vets. Orkney has a history of EGS cases so this meeting was well attended and the bus was an ideal way to show people how the project has progressed and how they can contribute.

Parasite bus: The next event for the bus saw Lee Innes, Beth Wells, Dave Bartley and Philip Skuce head to Cumbria for a two-day county show (8th and 9th September). The bus featured The Visible and Invisible (parasites of sheep) which included posters, hand-

Westmorland Show near Kendal, Cumbria

Knowledge Exchange bus: The next day we attended a drop-in event at Orkney Auction Mart, organised with the Orkney Livestock Association, who are Moredun associate members. The bus was in KE mode for this and we had useful discussions with farmers, vets and policy colleagues, particularly on the Orkney Goose Project.

Dr Eleanor Watson and Scott Hamilton collecting samples on farm.

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Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

Meeting bus: That evening the bus was in meeting mode with NorthVets, one of the Orkney vets practices, to discuss sheep health.

The main topics were OPA and toxoplasmosis,

Westmorland Show.

OUT AND ABOUT

outs, animations and a pop-up lab covering roundworms, liver fluke, ticks and sheep scab.

We had a very productive two days, discussing parasite control with many farmers, vets and RAMAs, and also took part in an Access to Knowledge live interview with Elanco Animal Health at the show, featuring the bus and how we are using it to improve our KE channels.

This was shown at a live event where Philip Skuce was part of a panel with TV presenter Adam Henson!

Mains Farm featuring ‘Farming technology What is it good for?’ This included a morning workshop for Sm@RT Sheep, an EU project led by SRUC and involving Moredun’s Fiona Kenyon’s work on Innovation and Targeted Selective Treatment for roundworm control.

In the afternoon, attending farmers got the opportunity to see some Precision Farming

Tools in action, improving sheep production and welfare, and many of Moredun’s Fellows, postdocs and PhD students attended with an impressive array of posters depicting their research. The bus was again in action giving our bus sponsors, board members and regional advisors the opportunity to see round the bus with an eye to future partnership events.

Education event at SSERC, Dunfermline CPD bus: The BioBus was invited up to SSERC in Dunfermline by Dr Annie McRobbie, Biology Education Manager, for a CPD event involving secondary school teachers across Scotland.

Lee Innes and Philip Skuce were there discussing some of Moredun’s educational resources involving food security and climate change topics and they were also joined by colleagues from SEFARI, QMS and RHET. The teachers really enjoyed the tour of the BioBus and there were several invitations to visit schools to engage the children in science activities.

HRH The Princess Royal visits Mobile Lab at Game Fair.

Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace Tick bus: As part of the GWCT central exhibit at the Game Fair (24th-26th September) the bus became a ‘tick’ bus, focusing on the project “The development of a new generation Louping Ill vaccine,” where GWCT are partners and the project was funded through them by Scottish Estate Owners. The first day of the Game Fair saw Lee Innes, Beth Wells and Mara Rocchi welcome HRH The Princess Royal on to the bus where she was very impressed with both the bus itself and the projects highlighted, which she discussed with her usual depth of knowledge and interest. Following HRH’s visit and throughout the rest of the Game Fair, we welcomed many policy makers, including MSP Mairi Gougeon, and many interested in the LIV vaccine for which there is a critical need within the grouse and hill sheep industries, including Estate owners, land managers, shepherds and gamekeepers. We also spoke to members of the public on tick, and particularly Lyme Disease, awareness where we were working in conjunction with the GWCT Education Area and ID Maps who are developing a Lyme App.

Dalehead Vets The sheeb scab control project for England (funded by the Rural Development Programme for England, RDPE) involves the use of diagnostic testing with the Moredun sheep scab ELISA to identify infested flocks and target treatments within a farmer-led cluster based approach.

The project focuses on hot spot areas for sheep scab in England and covers: i) The South West (Devon & Cornwall); ii) The Midlands (Herefordshire & Shropshire) and iii) The North

Farm Event at Firth Mains Farm Event bus: The next event for the bus was at our on-farm event at Moredun’s Firth

Discussing sheep scab mites.

Launch of the new farm vet building at Dalehead Vets.

(Cumbria, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Northumberland) with an overall target of recruiting 300 farms (100 per region). As part of the efforts in the Northern region we took the Biobus to one of the veterinary practices in North Yorkshire (Dalehead Veterinary group in Settle) who are coordinating some of the farm clusters in this region. The timing was perfect as it coincided with the launch of their new farm vet building, which involved a hog roast, beer tent, fairground attractions, a plunge dipper for the vets and of course the BioBus. Despite the typical Yorkshire weather a great, engaging day was had by all with over 150 people attending on the day and lots of discussion about sheep scab and the RDPE project.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

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Research Understanding the role of immune responses to Chlamydia abortus in sheep Chlamydia abortus is the foremost cause of diagnosed abortion in sheep worldwide, referred to as ovine enzootic abortion (OEA) or enzootic abortion of ewes. The development of a safe and effective vaccine deployed alongside existing molecular diagnostic tests remains a long-term ambition to reduce impact of this disease.

To help achieve this we require a greater understanding of the interaction between the sheep’s immune system and the Chlamydia bacterium to find out how the infection leads to disease and what are the key protective immune responses. T lymphocytes are known to play an important role in this context and these cells release soluble factors known as cytokines to help direct the immune response.

A key cytokine involved in the host response to Chlamydia abortus is interferon gamma (IFNɣ) that is known to play a role in controlling the intra-cellular growth of the pathogen.

Relatively little is known about the other cytokine proteins released by the host that may contribute to disease outcomes (abortion or birth of live lambs). The pattern of cytokine proteins released were hypothesised to affect the outcome of pregnancy following infection with C. abortus.

Moredun scientist, Sean Wattegedera, spent some time researching this subject and put together a body of work involving

Dr Sean Wattegedera.

six original research publications recently submitted to the University of Edinburgh for the award of a PhD. Sean developed several new immunological assays for use in sheep to help identify and characterise different T-cell populations that have distinct immunological functions involving activation and down regulation of host responses. Analysis of placental tissues and associated lymph nodes revealed a specific set of cells and molecules present, that are unique to all placental

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mammals studied to date that affects pregnancy success and infection control.

Analysis of proteins secreted from cultured T lymphocytes revealed patterns of Chlamydiaspecific cytokine production during infection with C. abortus, with selective elevation of the cytokines (IFNɣ) and IL-10 during latent and active disease.

Several new areas of investigation have been identified that should accelerate

innovative research in reproductive disease vaccinology. Understanding the key protective immune responses and how they are induced, will aid the design of new vaccines to protect against OEA and indeed may pave the way for much sought after multi-pathogen vaccines against reproductive diseases of small ruminants.

Congratulations to Sean on achieving his PhD.

RESEARCH

Parasites and Climate Change Moredun were asked recently by SAC’s Farm Advisory Service if we’d be prepared to do a piece to camera on ‘Parasites and Climate Change’ for their newly-launched FAS TV YouTube channel. This gave us an excellent opportunity to showcase the work we’ve been doing at the Institute’s farm at Firth Mains.

There are climate change adaptation and mitigation aspects to parasitism. We need to adapt to climate change, in terms of changing parasite prevalence, seasonality and geographic spread, but also to mitigate the impacts of parasitism on animal health and efficient livestock production.

Monitoring is a key aspect of this, through

the development of anti-parasite vaccines.

The segment featured short ‘talking heads’

their impact through optimising anthelmintic treatment using Precision Livestock Farming and Targeted Selective Treatment approaches.

appropriate diagnostic testing so we know

interviews with Principal Scientists, Philip

what’s normal, what’s changing etc., so ‘Test

Skuce and Fiona Kenyon, describing some

Don’t Guess’. Protecting our animals from

of the parasites we encounter in Scotland,

https://www.moredun.org.uk/news/

changing parasite challenge is also key, with

including Nematodirus and liver fluke, but also

protecting-against-parasites-scotlands-

a long-term research focus at Moredun being

a demonstration of how we might mitigate

farm-advisory-service

Precision livestock farming event at Moredun’s Firth Mains farm.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

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Research Gene editing parasites… in Perugia

Perugia, Italy.

“Buongiorno” or “Bonasera” (depending on what time of day you’re reading this). Allow me to introduce myself first. I’m David Smith, a Moredun Research Fellow that arrived at the institute almost two years ago to start building my first lab, a real privilege. I’m firmly of the belief that a fundamental component of any successful research group is a strong network of international collaborators. And so my “network” is something I’ve put a great deal of time and effort into developing.

In February 2020 I submitted an application for a Cooperative Research Programme Fellowship from the Organisation for Economic and Cooperative Development (better known as the OECD). These fellowships are designed to facilitate researchers to visit a lab in a different country, with the aim of fostering long-term strategic collaborations. How it works is you have your idea in mind, a project you would like to develop. But perhaps you need to develop or enhance certain skills to confidently deliver on the project. And so you pitch your project in a written application and justify why you need to visit a particular lab. And then you hope your application is selected.

From left to right: PhD student Riccardo Focaia, Lab Chief Dr Manlio Di Cristina, Moredun Fellow Dr David Smith, Postdoctoral Scientist Dr Federica Piro.

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I had an idea for a project that I’ve been developing in my mind for a while. However, fitting the brief for the fellowship programme, I felt like I needed an advanced level of training in a particular area to get the project off the ground. The idea is to genetically engineer a parasite so that it can no longer persist within its host and to then further engineer it to make and deliver vaccines of different pathogens. Effectively turn the parasite into the factory producer and the haulage driver of vaccine. But after a relatively short window of time, the parasite is cleared out due to its inability to persist and the animal is unharmed.

Better than that, it is protected against disease.

Before I moved to the Moredun Research Institute, I completed a postdoctoral research position at the University of Michigan (USA) and during my time there I began developing skills to edit the genome of parasites (which I will forever find extremely cool!). But for this latest project idea, I felt like I would benefit from having a more advanced level of training.

With this in mind, I identified one of the best labs in the world for doing just that: Dr Manlio Di Cristina’s lab at the University of Perugia, Italy.

There’s a good reason why I stated the time I submitted the application. You’ll note it was “pre-pandemic”. Later in the year, midpandemic, I found out that I was successful in my application. Happy days. Except, oh no, will

RESEARCH

I get to travel? Much to the envy of friends, family and colleagues, I persevered with making my research trip go ahead. A summer in Italy, I’d be mad not to! Through my work in the Covid-19 testing lab established between the The Moredun, SRUC and the NHS, I was able to get double vaccinated before this summer and that paved the way to me getting out to Italy. I still had to take the necessary Covid test before I left, isolated for 5 days in an airport hotel on arrival and took another test to release, following Italian government rules.

Eventually I did get to Perugia, a beautiful ancient hillside city that predates even the Romans. To make a long story short, I was successful in fulfilling the research objectives I outlined in my initial application. I now have the genetically engineered parasites and I have also produced the molecular tools to get the parasites to produce the first proof-ofconcept vaccine, which I will continue to work on back at Moredun.

I’m typing this from Heathrow airport, waiting for my connecting flight home and I’m reflecting on the past three months. I learned a tremendous amount from an incredibly supportive and talented Manlio and his lab and I feel incredibly indebted to them. I’m bringing a stronger skillset back to Moredun, as well as the early stages of a new vaccine system for combatting livestock diseases. My project is in its infancy and there is still a long way to go, but serious groundwork was built this summer and I’m incredibly optimistic for its progress and future development. Importantly, a longterm collaboration and bond was cemented between two research groups in different parts of the world.

Home away from home: The old medieval streets of Perugia were reminiscent of Edinburgh’s Old Town.

A new collaboration between two very old towns. We also now have several other new projects outlined to work on between our two groups. The hospitality and warmth I received from everyone I seemed to come across was a life lesson it itself and I now have many new friendships. Also, as an Englishman in Italy this summer, there was something deeply

satisfying about playing a few games of football and winning!

The future is certainly bright.

But for now, buongiornata or buonaserata, depending on whether you enjoy our magazine with a morning brew, a lunchtime tea or a relaxing evening dram.

David Smith, PhD

Assisi, a neighbouring town and the home of San Francesco (Francis of Assisi). San Francesco is a patron saint of animals, which felt pertinent to the research I was performing in Italy that will hopefully lead to enhanced animal welfare through vaccine development and disease prevention in livestock.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021 11

Spotlight Meet Moredun’s newest recruits Lauren Clelland

Sylvia Nwabuzor

Olivia Curry

Research Assistant

Group HR Advisor

PhD Student

What is your role?

What is your role?

What is your role?

A large part of my job is processing brain samples from deceased livestock with neurological symptoms as part of Scotland’s surveillance system, which pathologists then use to determine the cause of death. I use special stains or immunohistochemistry to further determine what specific pathogens or disorders may have killed the animal. We also receive samples from various research projects throughout Moredun and from around the world, giving us the chance to work with tissue and cells from many different species.

There are always new and interesting things coming through the lab, giving me the chance to learn new things and develop every day.

I provide HR advice and guidance to managers and colleagues, in the delivery of Moredun’s strategy, business plan and priorities. My role is to ensure that colleagues have an enjoyable experience throughout their employee life cycle by providing the necessary support and guidance. I support managers on the interpretation of the different terms and conditions and advise on the management of employee relations issues. I am currently looking at our employee engagement strategy and focusing on ways to promote and communicate these through various activities and company platforms. The idea is to keep everyone engaged and happy so that we can all work together to achieve our common goals.

Over the next 4 years, my primary role is to support Equine Grass Sickness (EGS) Research Fellow, Dr Kathy Geyer, in assisting with the continuing development of the EGS Biobank, engaging with horse owners and vets to continue to raise awareness of the disease and undertaking research projects aimed at elucidating the causal agents involved.

As an EASTBIO iCase student, I have the pleasure of working directly with Equine Grass Sickness Fund on various projects, including the analysis of data obtained from their owner questionnaire, inform, and update National Equine Surveillance and update advice in line with current research to help reduce the risk of grass sickness.

If you could complete one item on your bucket list, what would it be?

I really enjoy going on holiday and trying to spot different wild animals. I suppose if I was to pick one thing from my bucket list, it would be to see a humpback whale and watch it jump out the water as I just think it looks amazing.

I have seen a sperm whale, but they are not quite as agile!

12

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021

If you could complete one item on your bucket list, what would it be?

Skydiving! It is something really different to what I would normally do. It is daring and at the same time looks really fun. It is the thrill and the confidence I hope it would give me of overcoming my fears.

If you could complete one item on your bucket list, what would it be?

As the daughter of a countryman, I have always loved the outdoors. When I’m not with my horses, my spare time is spent in the hills and appreciating all that Scotland offers.

At the top of the bucket list is to one day climb the fearsome Sgùrr Dearg and its Inaccessible Pinnacle.

NEWS

Stop the Creeps on Sheep!

New animation out now leave you with serious welfare and production problems and using any product incorrectly can select for resistance within the parasite groups.

Created by the talented Selina Wagner of Ping Creates, this animation describes which product groups are effective for each parasite in a fun and entertaining way, and how to use them to effectively control those parasites.

Matt Colston, Ruminant Technical Consultant at Elanco Animal Health said: “I must give Selina full credit for tackling what can be a confusing subject, and presenting the information in such a clear, concise and entertaining way.”

Moredun, in conjunction with Elanco Animal Health, have released an engaging short animation in their entertaining series.

“Stop the Creeps on Sheep” is a fun way to learn about the four main ectoparasites of sheep, which treatments are effective and how to use them for best effect. It clearly explains the different treatment options available and how to use these correctly to

ensure treatments are effective.

The ectoparasites concerned - sheep scab,

Dr Beth Wells, Knowledge Exchange Specialist at Moredun said: “It has been great

lice, ticks and blowfly - cause economic, health

working with Elanco and Ping Creates to put

and welfare concerns in sheep production

together this animation, with its fun graphics and

systems and are endemic in UK flocks. Lack of

clear messages. We have found using animation

clear knowledge of the treatments available,

to communicate complex information is valuable

and which are effective against each parasite,

in terms of increasing understanding and

can lead to control measures not being fully

engagement.”

effective. This is very important for both short and long-term parasite control. Using the

https://www.moredun.org.uk/foundation/

wrong treatment for any one parasite can

outreach/animation-series

We all need a farmer Scott Brown, who farms in Midlothian and is one of Moredun’s Regional Advisors for the South of Scotland Board, was moved to develop this short film with the main aim to boost morale and mental well being in the agricultural community.

“Everyone, including the farming community has had a difficult time facing up to Covid-19 in the past 18 months. But, in many cases, the impact of the pandemic simply added to the burden of uncertainty faced by Scottish farmers around issues like Brexit and climate change. Sadly, these wider challenges can pile up on top of people and in the past few years we have seen a significant increase in mental

health issues in the farming community.”

The film entitled, ‘We all need a Farmer’

https://www.youtube.com watch?v=6lbWDC6CWc8

is the work of award-winning Director, Jason Connery, and narrated by renowned Scottish actor Ian Pirie with a musical score

by Tom Lyne. The film includes a series of striking images of farming and the Scottish countryside and highlights the work that farmers do to produce food and maintain the Scottish countryside whilst looking out for communities and helping neighbours with many of the daily challenges facing farmers.

Moredun were delighted to support this project through the donation of some images from the Livestock Keepers project taken by photographer Kevin McCollum.

Scott Brown.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2021 13

The Moredun Foundation is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland No. SC151865.

The Moredun Foundation is a charity registered in Scotland, No. SC022515.

Address: Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, EH26 0PZ.

3,500/JTCP

www.moredun.org.uk