Australia's ugliest sheep to 'outspin' synthetics
Wednesday, 31 May 2006
The search is on for Australia's ugliest merino lambs which may hold the key to securing Australia's $2.8 billion wool industry and challenging the dominance of synthetic fibres in world markets.
Scientists from (South Australian Research and Development Institute) and the University of 亚洲色吧 are looking for 'xtreme' sheep with unusual wool that provide the keys to unlocking the genetic library pointing to superior wool quality.
亚洲色吧 University's Professor says these lambs are usually culled because they may have uneven wool, strange fibres, clumps of wool that fall out, bare patches, no wool, unusual crimp, extra-lustrous wool, or even highly wrinkled skin.
"These lambs, typically viewed as worthless, are in fact highly valuable to the industry, because one of the most efficient ways to identify the genes that impact on certain wool traits is to study animals that have rare or extreme features," said Professor Hynd.
"When som