Max Rothschild, distinguished professor of animal science, didn’t know shoveling manure as an undergraduate student would ever lead him to winning a prestigious award.

Kwan-Suk Kwan-Suk, graduate student in animal science, had no idea his work on a pig-breeding farm in Korea would eventually win him that same award.

Rothschild and Kwan-Suk recently received the R&D 100 Award in conjunction with the PT1 gene test for pig appetite regulation.

The R&D Awards program, sponsored by R&D magazine, honors the top 100 products of technological significance that saw commercial application during the previous calendar year.

The Chicago Tribune has called the awards the “Oscars of applied science.”

Rothschild and Kwan-Suk will be honored at a banquet in Chicago in October.

Rothschild said he has had a lifelong interest in genetics, but his study of pigs began at the University of California-Davis, where he started off shoveling manure.

In graduate school, however, he used his knowledge of pigs to help him with his study of genetics.

“Pigs are great models because they have short generations and large litters,” he said.

Kwan-Suk said pigs have additional benefits in genetic study.

“The numerous physiological similarities between pigs and humans also make them a useful model organism for human physiology,” he said.

Studying pigs is important because pork is a major source of animal protein and pork production is a large business in agriculture, Kwan-Suk said.

He said he had been studying several obesity-related genes when he found a mutation of the gene linked to feed intake.

Kwan-Suk then took his findings to Rothschild, whom Kwan-Suk had met during a 1997 campus visit.

Since the pig-appetite gene is central to how the brain monitors hunger, this idea made biological sense, Rothschild said.

Rothschild and Kwan-Suk pursued the project in their laboratory, working together as a team.

There are two forms of the gene. The favorable one leads pigs to higher levels of feed intake, higher growth rates and high levels of back fat deposition.

The other results in a low level of feed intake, low growth rate and a low level of back fat deposition.

“This single-point mutation accounts for 5 percent less feed consumed and a 7 percent difference in fat level over the loin in a pig,” Rothschild said.

The PT1 gene test assists breeders in identifying pigs whose litters have a lower appetite and will use less feed, grow leaner and produce less waste.

This test will help pig genetics companies to develop a better quality of breeding stock.

“These companies can do the tests in-house and sell the animals according to farmer preference,” Rothschild said.

Kwan-Suk said their research might prove useful in other areas.

“This study has not only economic importance in the pork industry, but also potential application in humans,” Kwan-Suk said.

“[These gene] mutations are a major cause of human obesity.”

Kwan-Suk will continue to expand on his accomplishments with obesity-related genes in pigs.

Rothschild plans to move on to other areas of research. He will be researching a gene that relates to tenderness in pork.