Diagnosis and prediction of early-stage Johne's disease (MAP) in cattle to enable improved sustainability of agricultural protein production

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MI:RNA Ltd is a veterinary diagnostics company with a unique, patent pending, biomarker testing technology. This project builds upon our successful, initial Innovate UK funded preliminary trial which demonstrated the potential of our technology to detect early-stage Johne's disease in dairy and beef enterprises. Johne's disease leads to a significant reduction in milk yields and weight loss in affected cattle, as well as increasing the greenhouse gas production from animals affected. Consequently, improved early disease detection will benefit the sector with increased productivity, mitigation of economic losses and assistance in achieving a sustainable, carbon neutral business model.This project will combine MI:RNA innovation with the research expertise of colleagues within SRUC. The assembled team will work with English farms recruited by our collaborators in the Digital Dairy Chain and CIEL network, from which samples and data will be sourced, directly benefitting these enterprises with tailored input and guidance. Additional longevity data will be sourced from stored sample banks. CIEL market research workshops will scope the commercial landscape and help tailor the product to the producers' needs.Project phases and goals:Phase 1: The current preliminary data will be enhanced with further healthy and infected cattle serum samples in collaboration with SRUC research and veterinary services. This allows us to mature the AI model. Additionally, the accuracy of pooled samples and alternative sample mediums of milk and urine will be assessed and optimised.Phase 2: The accuracy and sensitivity of early disease detection will be established. This will be achieved through trialling the enhanced AI model with longitudinal Johne's disease samples from our specialist research collaborators including the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands and SRUC premium cattle health schemes. This allows modelling with predictive data and establishment of test accuracy at each stage of disease.Phase 3: The finalised model will be tested in a real-life setting. This will involve work with English farms linked with Digital Dairy Chain (NW England) and CIEL network (UK). In this extensive trial, we will receive and process samples from participating farms, optimize sample handling and processing and directly compare our test to existing solutions.The outcomes of these trials will be released publicly in peer-reviewed academic journals, and we will finalise our next stage research and development objectives. This will feed directly into our commercialisation plan to make the product available to the market, directly and positively impacting the agricultural protein production sector.