ANR Explorae EVILS

With the gradual phasing out of individual cages in animal farming, roosters from selectively bred lines must now live in groups. However, this abrupt change in living conditions leads to a significant increase in aggression, which negatively affects their welfare. Natural adaptation to these new conditions would take several dozen generations.

The EVILS project proposes an innovative approach: using tiny natural particles called extracellular vesicles, found in seminal plasma, to influence the social behavior of the next generation. By studying both mice, which naturally live in groups, and roosters under real-world farming conditions, the project aims to identify the molecules that influence offspring sociability.

This research could help improve animal welfare and open up new avenues for understanding and diagnosing certain behavioral disorders in humans.