The governing bodies of CRB-Anim met in Rennes on May 26, 27, and 28, 2026

The CRB-Anim Steering Committee and Scientific Committee met in Rennes from May 26 to 28, hosted by CRB Cani-DNA and CRYOAqua at the BIOSIT Health Biology Center of the University of Rennes. Over the course of these three days, members of the Group Council and the Scientific Committee contributed to CRB-Anim’s collective deliberations, reaffirming its major role in the conservation, characterization, and distribution of animal genetic resources, for the benefit of knowledge, agriculture, and global health.

Beyond securing remarkable genetic collections, the challenge also lies in characterizing them so they can be put to good use in addressing the interrelated challenges of production, health, reducing the environmental footprint, and adapting to climate change—all in support of the agroecological transition. The quality of the presentations and discussions highlighted a dynamic that is both collaborative and ambitious.

These days in Rennes also provided an opportunity to visit two CRBs and the company Syntenics: a big thank you for all the organization!

Topics covered include: :

The role of animal biobanks in the study of genetic abnormalities and the genotype-phenotype relationship:

Cécile Grohs (INRAE, UMR GABI, Jouy-en-Josas) presented the National Observatory of Bovine Anomalies (ONAB, https://www.onab.fr/),
Diane Buisson (IDELE, Toulouse) presented the establishment of an observatory for genetic anomalies in small ruminants (PRESAGE project, funded by CASDAR), Gwenola Tosser-Klopp (INRAE, UMR GenPhySE, Toulouse) rounded out this segment with a presentation of the SynObs project, which aims precisely to create a national multi-species network of observatories (SynObs France Futur Elevage project, https://www.francefuturelevage.com/fiches/synobs),
Pascale Quignon (CNRS, UMR IGDR, Rennes) presented the dog model, highlighting the discovery of novel genetic mutations in various breeds that can directly inform human research on rare diseases,
Finally, to conclude these presentations, Anne-Françoise Adam-Blondon (INRAE, URGI, Versailles-Saclay) presented the BRieF project (PEPR AgroEcology and Digital, France 2030), which aims to better manage and analyze the massive amounts of data generated by the entire ecosystem of CRBs and analysis platforms.

Alternatives to animal testing to help characterize genetic diversity: :

Bertrand Pain (SBRI-INSERM, INRAE, Lyon) presented the OrganoZoo platform project, funded by the PEPR Elevages Durables (France 2030) program. This platform, dedicated to the production of domestic animal organoids, will contribute to the activities of CRB-Anim.

Animal research facilities in Europe :

René Beaumont (INRAE, UMRH, Clermont-Ferrand) presented the ambitious European research infrastructure project GenoPHEnix, which was submitted in April 2026. This project brings together research infrastructures for ruminants, pigs, poultry, and aquaculture species. Designed to provide integrated services for research on genome-phenome interactions, it includes biobanking services and the development of in vitro models in collaboration with EUROFAANG and the OrganoZoo platform.

The National Cryobank: :

Gwendal Restoux (INRAE, UMR GABI, Jouy-en-Josas) presented the activities of the cryobank, which has been operating as a GIS and has been certified since January 2024. He took the opportunity to clarify that, in addition to its conservation mission—which aims to restore populations when necessary—the cryobank also seeks to contribute to genetic diversity in breeding programs.

Contact :

Claire Rogel-Gaillard, President of the GIS
Delphine Muller : Executive Secretary of the GIS
Bertrand Pain, President of the Scientific Advisory Board of GIS CRB-Anim

Focus on tours

The CRYOAQUA Community Cryobank

Tour organized by Pierrick Haffray (SYSAAF)

Faced with the risk of losing cryopreserved resources, several stakeholders in the research and aquaculture sectors (INRAE, IFREMER, the National Cryobank, and SYSAAF) have worked to establish a centralized cryopreservation facility called “CRYOAQUA.” Currently, CRYOAQUA handles the freezing and storage of resources from several Sysaaf member companies, the storage of resources from the National Cryobank’s secondary site, and INRAE biological resources for research.

The "Fish" Experimental Installation of LPGP

Tour organized by Catherine Labbé (INRAE LPGP)

The LPGP’s experimental facilities comprise a range of infrastructure and expertise, and are supported by a highly skilled technical team specializing in fish farming and trained in experimental research. The 1,000 m² facility features 10 rearing rooms adapted to the specific rearing conditions of different fish species (photoperiod and temperature) regardless of their stage of development. Four species are primarily studied: rainbow trout, goldfish, zebrafish, and medaka, with the capacity to study other more exotic species for targeted research projects.

More information

The "Fish" Experimental Installation of LPGP
Contact : Catherine Labbé

The BRC Cani-DNA

Tour organized by Catherine André (IGDP, Rennes) and Richard Guyon (Cani-DNA)

Cani-DNA, a member of CRB-Anim since 2012, was founded in 2000. It collects blood and tissue samples from dogs of all breeds, along with their pedigree, phenotypic, and clinical data. These genetic resources represent approximately 300 dog breeds and more than a hundred genetic diseases homologous to human diseases, including numerous cancers (sarcomas, melanomas, lymphomas, gliomas, mammary tumors, etc.) as well as many other pathologies. The samples corresponding to these diseases, which are often rare in humans but common in a given dog breed, thus constitute a unique resource of spontaneous models of rare human diseases such as genodermatoses, neuropathies, epilepsies, retinopathies, developmental abnormalities, etc...