Staff
Matthew Kinghorn will be leaving us at the end of June to pursue his doctorate at Kansas State University in the United States. Although he will not be involved in the day-to-day operations at Simbra he will remain on the Simbra Breed Improvement Committee to advise on Breed Improvement matters. In line with Simbra being a value proposition, underpinned by science. The society has appointed another animal science graduate, Jody Young to take over from Matt. She can be contacted at jody@simbra.org and will be more involved in daily operations and technical side of things.
Office
As most of us experienced during Covid lockdown, modern day technology has allowed us to be able to work effectively, remotely. The Simbra Society office has closed, and all work will be done remotely for the foreseeable future. If you wish to arrange a meeting with any of the Simbra Staff you can do so via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. If you would prefer to meet in person that can also be arranged in advance with the respective staff member. Contact details of respective staff members are:
kobus@simbra.org – Breed Director
amanda@simbra.org – Data Capturer
jody@simbra.org – Animal Science Graduate
matthew@simbra.org – Animal Scientist: Breed Improvement
Any performance data, auction entries or show entries must be sent to office@simbra.org
DNA Pipeline
There are currently two available channels when it comes to the DNA pipeline. Samples can either be sent to Unistel for parent verification and SNP genotypes, or they can be sent to Neogen for SNP genotypes. A reminder to familiarise yourself with the society rules and regulations to see which animals need to be SNP genotyped and which animals need parent verification.
The Unistel Pipeline procedures are as follows:
Most breeders are familiar with the old Unistel parentage procedures. The pipeline is the same. The breeder sends the samples directly to Unistel for either SNP genotyping or parent verification. These samples DO NOT have to be sent to the society first. However, the breeder MUST email the 780 form and the Unistel Sample Submission form to the society when they send their samples. Unistel will then invoice the society, and the society will invoice the breeder. All breeders are encouraged to take a double sample and to maintain their own DNA biobank on the farm. All courier costs to be carried by the breeder and not the society.
The Neogen Pipeline is as follows:
The breeder MUST send samples to Jody Young at the following address: No 2, Highgrove Office Park, 50 Tegel Ave, Highveld, Pretoria, 0157. The breeder MUST email the 780 form and the Neogen Sample Submission form to the society for processing when they send their samples. The society will be invoiced, and then invoice the breeders. All breeders are encouraged to take a double sample and maintain their own DNA biobank. All courier costs to be carried by breeder and not the society.
For a detailed description of the DNA pipelines and for all the correct forms, please contact office@simbra.org or jody@simbra.org.