Research targets wool screening

Farmers may be able to use a simple pin-prick blood test to check the quality of wool a lamb will produce, says a Lincoln University researcher.

Theopoline Itenge-Mweza, who is from Namibia, is about a year away from completing her doctorate. Her research is looking for genetic variation in keratin (wool protein) to see whether it affects wool traits such as fibre diameter, colour, strength, length, bulk, and maturation.

If there is a correlation, which she believed there would probably be, it should be possible to select for a desired type of wool through taking blood samples.