Dr Gregor Gorjanc - a true highlander

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Despite being born and raised in Slovenia, Gregor seemed destined to end up in Scotland one day as his surname Gorjanc translates to a ‘Highlander’ in his native Slovenian language. The route that took him from his home country to Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute was, however, not such an obvious one.

Gregor’s passion, that ultimately translated into his current role as a genetics and breeding expert, stemmed from an initial interest in livestock and a desire to become a farmer. He grew up in Celje, a city in Slovenia, the first nation to secure its independence following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. His earliest recollections highlight a young, developing mind, but one that was initially inhibited by the structures of conventional education.

I wasn’t actually excelling in primary school; I was a bit lost in a sense. One of the teachers told my mum she was worried I was going to be illiterate: ‘he doesn’t want to write or read, and he’s not engaging in school,’ she said. But my mum explained she wasn’t worried and told the teacher that I was reading history and science books at home. I think the truth was that I was bored, and for some reason school didn’t click for me in those early days.

He eventually overcame his reticence for school and soon developed an interest in biology and maths as well as an appreciation of the opportunities that could emerge for those who apply themselves. “Somewhere in the second half of primary school I realised that I needed to make an effort to better myself. I think I saw the bigger picture and I started to study,” he says.

Gregor completed primary school and progressed to the gymnasium, the high school stream for more academically focused pupils. During that time he was called out to help his uncle on his farm due to an illness in the family. It was here that he began to develop his initial interest in agriculture and livestock despite some reservations from his parents. “While my father came from a farming background and his brother continued to run the family farm, I grew up in the city and my parents were keen for me to follow a different career path,” says Gregor. “I soon realised that farming was a hard life and perhaps something I would best avoid, but this episode did lead me to study animal science.”

Gregor enrolled in the Engineering of Animal Sciences programme at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia’s capital where he completed a four-year degree and remained for a further year to complete his graduation thesis. His studies combined his interests in livestock and science with the added element of maths focusing on data science.

“My interest in biology, maths, and agriculture all came together. The course subjects I focused on the most were breeding and quantitative genetics, which are very data-driven. These subjects all came together with my interests in a perfect way for me and I never really looked back.

Quickly identified by professors as a promising student, Gregor was offered a part-time job within the university during his studies to help analyse data and tutor students. This income was not only beneficial for his personal development but was also important as he was already a father. “I really needed a job at this time to support my family. It was a struggle, but it also gave me a sense of responsibility and really sharpened my focus,” he recounts.

After completing his degree, he secured a PhD fellowship and continued as an active member of the university – as a PhD student, teaching assistant, and data analyst. Upon completing his PhD, he landed a teaching position at the same University. During the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock, held in Germany in 2010,  Gregor met John Hickey, who was at the time a post-doctorate based in Australia. This sparked a long-term collaboration between the two who worked together on a number of breeding and genetics projects. This included a visit to CIMMYT just outside Mexico City,  the site where modern plant breeding research kick-started the green revolution that significantly improved crop yields across Asia.

After John secured a position at Roslin, Gregor was invited to join him at the world-renowned institute. He made the move to the Scottish capital in 2013. There the pair worked on generating genomic data, genomic prediction, and genomic selection in several animal and plant breeding programmes. This included the largest whole-genome sequencing project in animal breeding to date - with a pig breeding programme that ultimately supplies genetics to a quarter of the global technified pork production.

In 2019, Gregor set up his current research group, the HighlanderLab. Gregor and his team of 15 colleagues and students work on managing and improving populations, using different methods involving data science, genetics, and breeding. The group is particularly focused on designing breeding programmes that support improving productivity in a sustainable way. This can involve the development of methods or looking at the genetic basis of production, reproduction, longevity, disease resistance, quality of products, welfare, and environmental impact among others.

As Gregor explains, research from groups like his is making a major contribution to increasing food production while also tackling some of the environmental challenges that can result from farming.

We hear a bad rap about cattle because they are emitting methane and CO2, but most people won’t realise that animal breeding have led to a major reduction in these emissions per unit of production thanks to our research and its application.

In addition to the work his lab has done on enhancing animal breeding, HighlanderLab is also actively working on improving plant breeding and has also been involved in projects looking into insect breeding.

“While the language may be somewhat different, what we’ve learned in plant breeding is also beneficial in supporting the work we are doing in animal breeding and the other way around too,” says Gregor.

Insect breeding is also an important field of study as there are two billion people in the world who already consume insects regularly. Insects are also rapidly becoming a feed source and an effective and sustainable means of managing food waste streams. There is a potential to replace some of livestock protein in our diets with insect protein. The field of insect farming is still young, but there is huge potential to improve this sector to benefit the wider population and the planet.

HighlanderLab is highly regarded for its innovative research work and has secured funding from a range of sources, including Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, DataLab, Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal’s Data-Driven Innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund, Innovate UK, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Natural Environment Research Council, Royal Society, Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance, and breeding industry. Gregor has also just recently secured a Fellowship with London’s Royal Society to engage with insect breeding industry.

“Grant funding is important as it helps us bring our ideas to fruition and implementation stage by bringing new colleagues to our lab. Active projects also generate new ideas, which hopefully will eventually lead to new projects.”

Through his time at Roslin, Gregor says he’s grateful for the support of the Institute’s wider team and for the additional advice and assistance provided by Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service.

There are a number of people at Edinburgh Innovations who have been very supportive with various aspects of grant applications, and they have also helped set up and drive discussions with commercial partners.

Over the last 15 years, more than half of which has been spent in his current role at The Roslin Institute, Gregor feels privileged to have been involved in introducing and implementing genomic prediction and genomic selection in breeding. He cites the tremendous excitement around these techniques that have ‘doubled genetic gain per unit of time.’

His journey from a young primary school pupil who initially pushed back on the convention of school-based learning to a leading academic involved in pioneering animal, plant, and insect breeding research is one that might never have been initially anticipated, especially from within his own family.

“My parents actually tried to dissuade me from getting involved in farming and were somewhat disappointed when I chose to study agriculture. It’s a tough profession, particularly in a country like Slovenia where most farms are quite small making it difficult to earn a good income.”

While his career took him on an altogether different route from becoming a farmer, Gregor suggests, not completely in jest, that he now feels grateful he chose to disregard parental advice and shun agriculture as his chosen area of study.

The world is facing a food crisis and it’s going to get worse. Recent crises have shown only glimpses of future challenges. We will need to produce much more food for far more people than we used to with possibly even fewer resources.

With people such as Gregor and his HighlanderLab colleagues fully engaged in finding new and innovative ways to address these issues, there are reasons for optimism that we can find effective solutions to one of the key challenges facing the planet.