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Xelect marks 10 years of success in aquaculture genetics
April 17, 2025 By Hatchery International staff
Aquaculture genetics company, Xelect Ltd., is celebrating 10 years of its genetic selection program.
The company started out as a spin-off from the University of St Andrews, founded by then director of the Scottish Oceans Institute, Prof. Ian Johnston, and his PhD student, Tom Ashton. It was originally established to license genetic markers associated with increased fillet yield and quality in Atlantic salmon.
At the time, aquaculture companies faced significant barriers in running their genetics program. It has since served as a genetics department for a wide range of aquaculture companies.
Xelect’s journey began with simple spreadsheet-based analyses, but an early decision led to the development of Optimate, a bespoke software package for aquaculture.
“Optimate has developed with Xelect and can now deal with most hatchery scenarios (including group spawning species). We have increased the efficiency of our optimization algorithms so that runs that would previously have taken hours to complete now take minutes,” said head of genetics, Mark Looseley.
Xelect is headquartered in St Andrews, Scotland, and manages over 30 breeding programs globally, spanning 20 species.
In December 2023, Xelect became part of Genus Group, a terrestrial livestock genetics company. This partnership provides the company with access to an advanced genetics R&D platform, including expertise in breeding technologies and gene editing.
“I had the daunting task of designing breeding program for a myriad of aquaculture systems. Reproductive systems in aquaculture are remarkably different from terrestrial species, where genetic improvement pathways are far more established,” said Marie Smedley, head of breeding programs, who was the first breeding program manager hired by Xelect.
“Over the years, we have acquired incredible specialists, had exposure to a large number of species and customers, and continually researched the best route to increased genetic value. Most importantly, we have had the rewarding experience of seeing our customer programs succeed over multiple generations,” Smedley added.
Xelect has also launched a new website and refreshed brand. The company is also expanding its aquaculture genetics laboratory in St Andrews, Scotland, with plans for a high-throughput, fully automated facility.
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