Welcome to Allerton IV! Previous Allerton Conferences have focused on genetic mapping, intellectual property and commercialization, and in the application of genomic information to animal agriculture. This Allerton conference, the fourth in this series, is convening global experts to address the need to define and collect relevant phenotypes that will enable the application of emerging genomic technologies. It is imperative that phenotypes are defined with specific metrics, established guidelines and international standards. Specifically, complex and component phenotypes that relate to disease resistance, reproduction, meat quality traits, wellness, behavior, and development must be precisely defined, with international standards, if the underlying genes controlling the traits are to be identified. Resource populations of animals measured for a large number of phenotypes are expensive and time consuming to construct and need national and international coordination. The soon completion of genomic sequencing of cattle, chicken, pig and sheep will provide tremendous genomic capability. However, the lack of attention to defining phenotypes will hamper progress in full realization of the genomic promise.

Thus, this conference will deal with the following issues:

1) Which phenotypic traits warrant immediate focus for animal agriculture?

2) How can selected relevant phenotypes be best defined and measured in a high throughput and economical manner?

3) What types of facilities and technologies are necessary to produce phenotyped animals?

4) What are the optimum genotyping strategies for different kinds of resource populations and what are the costs?

5) What are the opportunities for international cooperation?

6) How will private industry contribute to the effort and how will it implement the new technologies?

The conference goals are to identify areas of study or methodologies that will enhance defining phenotypes, establishing international metrics, linking databases associated with phenotypic measurements, and develop guidelines for the exchange of resource information. In particular, the conference is focusing on identifying appropriate disease phenotypes and other low heritability traits where traditional rodent models have not proven relevant, and where significant relevance to animal production is evident. The conference will identify resource needs and areas in which new approaches or methodologies are required. The conference also will serve to stimulate interactions between researchers working across species yet focused on common phenotypes. Finally, the conference organizers have integrated a theme focusing on creating international guidelines to ensure the broadest utilization of genomic information and in the development of next generation phenotyping centers.

In order to achieve the defined outcomes and deliverables, the conference has been organized to provide significant discussion among the participants. The conference will be held in the new UIUC Conference Center.