Cosmopolitan Chicken research project.

The Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project is a scientific project that is related to the art project of Koen Van Mechelen The Cosmopolitan Chicken. It is the purpose to investigate the genetic diversity of chickens as well as the consequences of mixing genomes of different breeds through crossing, as a model for mixing of the genomes of different human populations. The project will not only have an impact on a better understanding on the possibilities of current genetic technologies by the genral public, but can also generate objective data on the existence of important genetic differences between (animal or human) breeds. It is expected that the project will also provide information on the heritability of economically important traits such as prolificacy, muscle growth, egg production, survival rate of chickens. As the chicken is an important animal model for a number of frequent diseases in hmumans, special attention will be given to the research of genes that are relevant for these diseases.

Keywords:Cosmopolitan Chicken, genetic diversity, art, Koen Van Mechelen, breed, crossbred

Disciplines:Genetics, Systems biology, Molecular and cell biology, Agricultural animal production