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The International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) Standing Committees will offer comparison tests for the period of 2024 to 2025 as listed below.

The deadline for all applications is July 15, 2024.
Please note that submitting applications after the deadline is not possible.

In order to participate in comparison tests, laboratories need to be paid institutional members of ISAG and must maintain that membership for both years of the comparison test process (2024 and 2025).

You will need to enter your institutional member login and password in order to access the application forms. Individual ISAG members will not have access to the application forms.

ISAG will organize the shipping of samples for these test, using FedEx as the courier. A standard charge of USD 105.00 (or EUR 98.50) will be invoiced for each test to cover the costs of processing and shipping samples. After the application deadline, you will receive a combined invoice for the total cost of all tests your laboratory has requested to participate in. Different tests for the same species will incur only one processing and shipping charge.

ISAG must receive processing and shipping cost payments before your participation in the test will be accepted or samples shipped.

The deadline to request a second shipment of samples will be January 5, 2025. Laboratories requesting additional samples will be assessed a USD 210.00 (or EUR 197.00) processing fee per set of additional samples. These samples will ship no later than January 29, 2025.

Please contact the ISAG administrative office at isag@assochq.org for technical problems related to the application forms.

For any technical questions on the tests, please contact the respective committee chair.

For other questions related to these tests, you may contact the chair of the respective committees or the ISAG secretary at isagsecretary@assochq.org.

Committees and Duty Laboratories

Animal Forensic Genetics Committee

Committee chair: Guillermo Giovambattista

The 2024–2025 International Forensic Genetics DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
Orivet
St. Kilda, Australia

Applied Genetics of Companion Animals Committee

Committee chair: Peter Dovc
Committee co-chair: Jinsheng Qiu

The 2024–2025 International Cat (Felis catus) Short-Tandem-Repeat (STR) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) DNA Typing Comparison Tests Application
You will have the option to choose STR only, SNP only, or both STR and SNP tests on a single application form.
Duty laboratory information:
Laboklin GmbH & Co.KG
Bad Kissingen, Bayern, Germany

The 2024–2025 International Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) STR and SNP DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
You will have the option to choose STR only, SNP only, or both STR and SNP tests on a single application form.
Duty laboratory information:
University of California, Davis
Veterinary Genetics Lab
Davis, CA

Cattle Molecular Markers and Parentage Testing Committee

Committee chair: Jiansheng Qiu
Committee co-chair: Emiliano Lasagna

The 2024–2025 International Bovine (Bos taurus) STR and SNP DNA Typing Comparison Tests Application
You will have the option to choose STR only, SNP only, or both STR and SNP tests on a single application form.
Duty laboratory information:
Universidad Nacional De La Plata
La Plata, Argentina

Equine Genetics and Thoroughbred Parentage Testing Standardization Committee

Committee chair: Leanne Van de Goor

The 2024–2025 International Horse (Equus caballus) STR and trial SNP DNA Typing Comparison Tests Application
You will have the option to choose STR only, trial SNP only, or both STR and trial SNP tests on a single application form. The trial SNP test will NOT be officially ranked.
Duty laboratory information:
University of California, Davis
Veterinary Genetics Lab
Davis, CA

The 2024–2025 International Donkey (Equus asinus) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
University of California, Davis
Veterinary Genetics Lab
Davis, CA

Applied Genetics and Genomics in Other Species of Economic Interest Committee

Committee chair: Amparo Martinez
Committee co-chair: Emiliano Lasagna

The 2024–2025 International Sheep (Ovis aries) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
National Research Institute of Animal Production
Balice, Poland

The 2024–2025 International Goat (Capra hircus) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
Amparo Martinez, Animal Breeding Consulting, S.L.
Cordoba, Spain

The 2024–2025 International Llama/Alpaca (Lama glamo/Vicugna pacos) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
National Research Institute of Animal Production
Balice, Poland

The 2024–2025 International Pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences
University of Perugia
PERUGIA PG.
Italy

The 2024–2025 International Pigeon (Columba Livia) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
National Research Institute of Animal Production
Balice, Poland

The 2024–2025 International Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) STR DNA Typing Comparison Test Application
Duty laboratory information:
University of California, Davis
Veterinary Genetics Lab
Davis, CA

Below is a brief description of the difference between the ISAG comparison tests and ICAR accreditation. For more details on ICAR accreditation and upcoming changes to those procedures, please see this PDF.

The primary difference between an ISAG comparison test and ICAR accreditation is that the ISAG comparison test is not a proficiency or accreditation test; rather, it measures the technical ability of participating labs and their ability to manage genotypes and solve parentage questions. The intent of the ISAG comparison tests is to help labs obtain comparable genotypes that can be shared between labs when solving parentage or identity cases. In contrast, ICAR accreditation focuses solely on the genotypes being correct, regardless of whether the lab itself has done the genotyping or has sent the sample to a commercial company for genotyping.