How can we make farmed Atlantic salmon resistant against sea lice?

Do Pacific salmon species carry a secret they could share with Atlantic salmon? What is it in the genes that make these relatives of Atlantic salmon less susceptible to lice?

Gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 could answer these questions and provide potential solutions to improve the welfare of farmed Atlantic salmon.

The project will be led by the Norwegian Fisheries, Aquaculture and Food Research Institute – Nofima, and involve close collaboration with research partners  the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh, UK), the Institute of Aquaculture (University of Stirling, UK), Rothamsted Research (UK), the University of Melbourne (Australia), University of Prince Edward Island (Canada), Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (USA), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and the Institute of Marine Research (Norway). Benchmark Genetics, Mowi and Salmar are industry partners.