Merete Fredholm

Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

She is a veterinary doctor graduated from The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark (now part of the University of Copenhagen). She also earned both her PhD and Dr. Vet. Sci. degrees from the same institution. Currently, she is professor of Animal Genetics at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences.

Her research centers on molecular genomics and clinical genetics. Together with her research group, she has identified causative mutations for various diseases as well as candidate genes associated with disease- and production traits across multiple animal species. She has made significant contributions to the advancement of molecular tools for genome analysis in livestock species. Her work includes active participation in several international research consortia, most notably the International Swine Genome Consortium and the Farm Animal Genotype‑Tissue Expression (FarmGTEx) Consortium.

From genes to practice: breeding for animal health and resilience

Genetic improvement in pigs has traditionally centered on production traits such as daily gain, feed efficiency, and litter size. The adoption of genomic selection roughly a decade ago accelerated progress in these areas by enabling more accurate prediction of breeding values. While phenotyping for production traits is well established, the growing emphasis on animal health, welfare, and responsible antibiotic use demands that breeding programs also target traits linked to robustness and disease resilience—traits for which phenotyping remains far more challenging.

To support the integration of health‑related traits into genomic selection, we conducted an extensive clinical characterization of 2,500 pigs with a strong focus on gut health, a key determinant of overall resilience. Using genome‑wide association analyses, we identified genomic regions and variants associated with indicators of health and robustness. These findings provide a foundation for incorporating health‑ and resilience‑related traits into future breeding strategies, contributing to more sustainable pig production and improved porcine health management.