FAQ

LGC offer a number of SNP assays that can be used to detect whether individual animals are resistant or susceptible to Scrapie. Scrapie is a fatal disease that affects the nervous system of sheep and goats. The disease causes affected animals to scrape off their fleeces against trees or rocks, hence the name Scrapie. Scrapie is infectious and therefore the only way to contain it is to quarantine and destroy affected animals. In the UK, the Government has put in place a National Scrapie Plan that encourages breeding from sheep that are naturally resistant to the disease. Individuals that are identified, through genotyping, as resistant can be used in the breeding of future generations.