A revision was released in 2023 and this is the current version.
The module consists of 21 topics. See Topic 0 for Table of Contents.
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand the different aspects involved in breeding programs
• Analyse (animal) breeding programs as a logical order of decisions to be made
• Put the different aspects of breeding in the right context, and understand the knowledge needed about making certain investments
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand the principle of estimation of breeding value (EBV)
• Understand why EBV is a better predictor of genetic merit of offspring than an animal’s own phenotype
• Understand accuracy of EBV
• Predict how much EBVs vary among individuals
• Predict how much EBV might change with new information
• Predict response to selection based on EBV
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Assess the value of relative’s information in EBV accuracy
• Derive the weights on relative’s information in estimating breeding value
• Understand the value of progeny testing
• Know the relationship between progeny test size and accuracy of sire’s EBV
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand the power of linear models
• Set up a simple example of linear models
• Understand the principle of mixed models
• Understand how in BLUP, different effects can be taken into account
• Understand how BLUP uses additive genetic relationships
• Know that BLUP uses optimal selection index weights for the different sources of information to estimate the breeding value of an animal
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand how BLUP accounts for selection of parents and non-random mating
• Understand how BLUP can estimate genetic trends
• Calculate accuracy from mixed model equations
• Understand accuracy from BLUP-EBV, in particular in relation to the contemporary group size and the ‘effective information’ about each animal.
• Understand the effects of BLUP selection on genetic progress and inbreeding
• Understand the level of complexity of commercial genetic evaluation programs
• Understand the requirements about data quality and the models used for genetic evaluation
• Know about the different extensions that are possible based on the animal model
• Understand across breed evaluation
On completion of this topic you should:
• Understand the importance of estimation of genetic parameters in animal breeding
• Know when estimation of genetic parameters may be required
• Understand the principles of estimation of variance components
• Estimate heritability from sib analysis
• Estimate heritability from parent-offspring regression
• Be aware of the different methods that can be used to estimate genetic parameters
On completion of this topic you should have an understanding of:
• Molecular markers detect variation at the DNA level
• Markers can be used to detect Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL)
• Linkage and linkage disequilibrium
• Statistical considerations for marker choice for QTL detection and mapping
– Experimental design: When can we expect an association between a marker
genotype and a QTL?
– Statistical: What are the chances to find a QTL, and what does this depend on?
– Understand the issues of multiple testing in QTL detection
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand what genomic selection involves
• Understand when genomic selection can be useful
• Understand what factors make genomic selection more accurate
• Understand how EBV can be calculated with the knowledge of genomic information
On completion of this topic you should be able to answer the following questions:
• What is a breeding objective?
• Why is it important to define the breeding objective?
• How is the breeding objective used for selection of animals?
On completion of this topic you should know:
• How to derive selection criteria for multiple traits
• How to predict multiple trait selection response
• How to manipulate multiple trait selection response
• Considerations in order to make optimal genetic change
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand the issues involved in breeding program design
• Predict rates of genetic improvement for breeding programs
• Design and compare alternative breeding programs
On completion of this topic you should:
• Have a good understanding of the concept of inbreeding
• Understand the need for balance between genetic gains and inbreeding
• Understand the tactical approach to solving this issue
• Be able to put together the different topics from this unit in a unifying framework
• Understand the place of each topic of this unit in the context of an animal breeding program
• Be able to analyse an animal breeding problem in a breeding program context, and to know the
tools available to help implementing such programs
• Understand new developments and evaluate them in the right context
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
• Understand some of the complexity of models used in commercial genetic evaluations
• Know about the different extensions that are possible based on the animal model
• Understand across breed evaluation
• Understand the benefits of multiple trait genetic evaluation and when it is mostly advantageous
• Understand how multiple trait mixed models are set up and have an idea about computational aspects
• Understand the importance of correct genetic parameters
This topic is rather detailed and gives some technical information on how to work out a more complicated mixed model. This is useful for people that need to code up BLUP evaluations. The
principles of the more advanced BLUP models have been presented in Topic 5. Technical detail was also presented in Topic 5.
On completion of this topic you should:
• Understand the importance of estimation of genetic parameters in animal breeding
• Know when estimation of genetic parameters may be required
• Understand the principles of estimation of variance components
• Estimate heritability from sib analysis
• Estimate heritability from parent-offspring regression
• Be aware of the different methods that can be used to estimate genetic parameters
On completion of this topic you should:
• Have an understanding of the different reproductive technologies available to animal breeders
• Have an understanding of how each technology can affect genetic progress
On completion of this topic you should:
• Understand the issues that affect which is the best crossing system to adopt
• Have a good feel for what makes dominance good and epistasis bad in crossing systems
On completion of this topic you should understand:
• The structure of the commercial and ram breeding sectors of the industry
• The traits which influence production and how to include them in a breeding objective
• Merino genetic evaluation and breeding systems
At the end of this topic you should:
• The structure of the commercial and ram breeding sectors of the industry
• The traits which influence production and how to include them in a
breeding objective
• Understand and describe the way in which Sheep Genetics has improved sheep meat production
• Understand the relevance of genetic correlation to ASBV
• Be able to separate environmental from genetic effects
• Understand the measures of accuracy for ASBV and FBUS
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
. Demonstrate understanding of the structure of the beef industry, and its impact on genetic improvement
. Demonstrate understanding of the three primary components of genetic improvement (breeding objectives, genetic evaluation and breeding program design)
. Discuss relevant issues associated with these key components in the beef industry
. Appreciate and discuss the tools available for genetic improvement in the beef industry, and have used their web applications.
. Discuss uptake of genetic technology in the beef industry
. Discuss future developments in genetic improvement in the beef industry
Matrices take a lot of the tedium out of both presenting algebra and
calculating results. They are widely used in scientific animal breeding,
particularly in selection indices and BLUP.