Alltech is building a $20 million Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition at the company's location in Jessamine County at which the company and UK will collaborate on advanced research in nutrigenomics.

The Center is scheduled to open in February 2008.

Founder and president of Alltech, Pearse Lyons explained nutrigenomics this way: "Genes are like lights. It's a question of finding the nutrients that will turn these genes up or turn them down." For example, he said, nutrigenomics would make it possible to know what it is in the genes of a thoroughbred horse that make it run faster. Once that is known, the appropriate nutrients can be added to the horse's feed to "ignite" the genes that affect a horse's speed.

UK will use the $900,000 grant for seminars and to enable faculty and students in the UK College of Agriculture to do research in Alltech's new laboratory.