Kick-off of the RESIGEN program: new research for CRB-Anim

This 4-year program (2025-2028) with a total budget of more than 4 million euros, supported by France 2030 - Bpifrance, aims to preserve the domestic biodiversity of French poultry and pig genetics, both heritage and commercial, and to contribute to the development of the sector through new technical, biotechnological and organizational opportunities..

In the face of growing epizootic threats, such as avian influenza or African swine fever, the solutions we are looking for must enable us to become more resilient in the event of the loss of breeding herds, to support the current sovereignty of farms that source from French breeding, and to maintain the potential for reorienting breeding objectives for the agro-ecological transition, while safeguarding all the racial biodiversity that exists today.

RESIGEN brings together 5 partners (SYSAAF, INRAE, INSERM, IFIP-Institut du Porc, LANDATA groupe YXIA) who took turns on January 29 to present the research and development work that will be carried out:

INRAE and INSERM, in partnership with SYSAAF, will be involved in mastering processes for restoring breeds using primordial germ cells (male and female PGCs) from chicken, pheasant and duck. For pigs, the conservation of local breeds in the National Cryobank will be based on cell cultures and ovarian cortexes, in association with IFIP.

IFIP, INRAE and SYSAAF will work with breeders to optimize the conservation plans of French breeding schemes, including the National Cryobank.

LANDATA and SYSAAF will develop processes to optimize the use of fresh and frozen avian semen.

SYSAAF will propose a new in situ management strategy for local breeds of chicken. 

Seventeen other companies and academic partners are also involved in RESIGEN.

This program, coordinated by SYSAAF, aims to boost technical and scientific synergies between the poultry and pork industries. It helps maintain French genetic excellence in a context of change. It will also create several engineering jobs. 

Contact CRB-Anim :

• Bertrand Pain et Gwendal Restoux