Photo of a cow and her calf outdoors in a field, both of the Red Poll breed.
RESEARCH PROJECT

Genetic cause of the disease ichthyosis in Swedish red polled cattle

Updated: March 2026

Project overview

Project manager: Anna Johansson
Contact: Anna Johansson

Participants

Project members:

Global goals

  • 2. Zero hunger

Short summary

In recent years, several calves have been born (stillborn) with the skin disease ichthyosis in the cattle breed Swedish red polled. This project aims to find the gene variant that causes ichthyosis in the breed and investigate how common it is in this, and other, Swedish cattle breeds.

In recent years, several calves have been born (stillborn) with the skin disease ichthyosis in the cattle breed Swedish red polled. Since it is an endangered breed, it would be a major problem if the hereditary disease were to become common in the breed. The disease has been described in some breeds of cattle from other countries and there are several potentially causative mutations.

The purpose of the project is to find the gene variant that causes ichthyosis in Swedish red polled cattle and investigate how common it is in the breed and in other Swedish cattle breeds.

Genetic variants that have been associated with ichthyosis in other breeds will be investigated in red polled cattle using targeted genotyping and whole-genome sequence data. Affected animals and healthy relatives will be analysed to identify variants associated with the disease 

In our research catalogue, you will find more projects