Professor Dr Heiner Niemann

Main research interests: Molecular regulation of mammalian preimplantation embryo development, transgenic large animal models, pluripotent stem cells, epigenetic reprogramming, genetic diversity
Heiner Niemann has made important contributions to the development of farm animal biotechnology. Most of his work was done at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (previously Institute of Animal Science of the Federal Agricultural Research Centre) located in Mariensee near Hannover. His research is characterized by close collaboration with various partners within Germany and abroad.
Initially he worked on the establishment of embryo transfer technologies, predominantly in swine and developed practical technology to freeze bovine embryos. For a number of years, modern biotechnologies have been the major focus of his research. This particularly relates to in vitro production of embryos, analysis of gene expression patterns in embryos, transgenesis in farm animals, development and validation of somatic cell nuclear transfer in farm animals, derivation and characterization of somatic and embryonic stem cells, as well as epigenetic aspects.
Heiner Niemann's laboratory has pioneered several aspects of farm animal biotechnology, specifically the analysis of gene expression patterns in bovine embryos, establishment of transgenic pigs for xenotransplantation research, development and validation of somatic cell nuclear transfer in swine and the discovery of culture conditions with dedifferentiating properties allowing pluripotent cells to be derived from primary somatic cell cultures. His laboratory is one of the leading groups in farm animal biotechnology.