THE ANIMAL AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY IS AN INVALUABLE SECTOR IN FOOD SECURITY FOR THE WORLD, ESPECIALLY AS ESTIMATES INDICATE A DOUBLING OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION BY 2050. RESEARCH IS UNDERTAKEN ON MANY ASPECTS OF THE ANIMAL INDUSTRY TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE GENETIC LINKS BETWEEN PRODUCTION TRAITS AND GENETIC MARKERS THAT COULD BE USED TO IMPROVE THE PRODUCTION, QUALITY, AND WELFARE OF FUTURE GENERATIONS OF ANIMALS. BLOOD IS ONE IMPORTANT AND EASY TO OBTAIN TISSUE THAT IS USED ACROSS MANY OF THESE STUDIES, AND IS VALUABLE BECAUSE IT INTERACTS WITH ALL OTHER TISSUES IN THE BODY GIVING IT A UNIQUE USE FOR THE DETECTION OF SPECIFIC BIOMARKERS THAT MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL OR IMMUNOLOGICAL COMPROMISES. THIS INTERCONNECTEDNESS, HOWEVER, ALSO LEADS TO DIFFICULTIES AS GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IN BLOOD CAN BE IMPACTED BY MANY FACTORS SUCH AS STRESS, DISEASE, TIME, AND BLOOD CELL COMPOSITION. THIS STUDY AIMS TO USE COMPLETE BLOOD COUNTS AND METHODS SUCH AS DECONVOLUTION TO SEPARATE OUT CELLS INTO MORE DEFINED CATEGORIES AND TO AID IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE GENE EXPRESSION DIFFERENCES MAY BE COMING FROM. IT WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE TO UTILIZE THIS GENE EXPRESSION DATA TO CONNECT GENE EXPRESSION INFORMATION TO HEALTH TRAITS THROUGH EQTL MAPPING AND ANALYSIS. THE STUDY WILL UTILIZE APPROXIMATELY 1,600 HEALTHY NURSERY PIGS FOR RESEARCH, AND GIVEN THE SIZE OF THIS SET OF ANIMALS WE WILL HAVE THE STATISTICAL POWER TO DELVE DEEP INTO THE GENETIC ARCHITECTURE BEHIND GENE EXPRESSION IN BLOOD AND PROVIDE A STRONG BASELINE FOR THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY. IN THE END, THIS STUDY WILL HELP IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING BEHIND ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT AND WELFARE TRAITS FOR THE ENTIRE SWINE BREEDING INDUSTRY.