Dr Dalrymple is a biologist returning to biology after passing through bioinformatics, genomics and systems biology. He is the coordinator of the international sheep reference genome project and a keen participant in the new Functional Annotation of Animal genomes (FAANG) consortium. These activities contribute to the identification of the puzzle pieces for input into integrative systems analyses combining evolutionary genetics and genomics with gene expression to understand the biological processes underlying phenotypes of production interest in livestock. At present is he using these approaches to understand the interface between the feed and the digestive system, and energy metabolism, muscle growth and fat deposition. The increased understanding of the contribution of the host animal to methane production, and the key drivers of conversion of intake to muscle and fat will enable us to produce more efficient animals with reduced methane production.