#weatherbys

Weatherbys Limited is the main DNA processing Lab (for animals) in Ireland. It is also one of the leading laboratories in the world in multi animal species pedigree verification.

This is where biological samples such as: skin, hair, blood or semen from a bovine animal is sent to be processed in order to get its genomic evaluation. 

Romy Morrin-O'Donnell, scientific director at Weatherbys, very kindly allowed me into their lab to see the methods used to extract the DNA from the biological material. I spent some time with Dr. Rebecca Weld who took me through how everything is processed, and then what the information looks like on the computer screen.

The biological material is put into the oktopure machine, which extracts DNA from the sample through a series of actions, described as like washing and rinsing.

This produces a gel containing the DNA sample. This gel is then transferred onto an SNP chip (see below for SNP) and put into another machine, the Illumina. 

An Illumina is customised to the owners specifications. Here in Ireland there are certain SNPs, or areas on the genome, that are of particular interest for different animals. The machine is programmed to focus on these specific areas in order to obtain the necessary information.

More about Weatherbys here:

https://www.weatherbys.co.uk/dna-lab

On its own, the information gathered as a result of this process can not tell us what to expect from the animal. Rather, it is a matter of comparing it with the statistical data that has been collected over the past fifteen years from tens of thousands of similar animals.

This information previously processed has been analyzed together with the outward production of the animal - amount of milk produced, how much meat and fat their carcass yields, for example.

When this has been done for a large amount of one breed of animal, then the genomic scientists can narrow down which part of the genome gives rise to a specific phenotype.

I buy my leggings at Forever21 in the plus size section or at Target. Or really, wherever else I can find them. If you find some that you like and that fit, buy 15 of them because you will most likely never be able to find them again. 

It's also important to note that I am only a size 16, which puts me at about the XL to 1X range depending on the store/designer and near the lower end of the "plus size" range. I can still fit into some straight size brands if they're stretchy. 

Although I haven't bought these personally, I've heard good things about "teggings" from Re/Dress. 

!!!!!!!!!!