Animal breeding and bioethics

Precision animal breeding.

We accept that we are responsible for the quality of life of animals in our care. We accept that the activities of man affect all the living things with which we share this planet. But we are slow to realize that as a result we have a duty of care for all living things. That duty extends to the breeding of animals for which we are responsible. When animals are bred by man for a purpose, the aim...

Selection from Animal Breeding

Software Packages in Animal Breeding

Six packages for solving mixed model equations and estimating variance components by REML are compared. Each has a unique strength. Meticulously finished DFREML is the only one that implements hypothesis testing for variance component estimates. MTDFREML is a comprehensive, relatively easy to install and simple to use package for analyses of experimental data. PEST, the only semi-commercial pro...

Random Regression in Animal Breeding

Scientific Challenges to Animal Breeding and Genetics

This paper presents an overview of the history and the foreseeable developments of animal breeding. After the transition from population genetics to modern quantitative genetics, realized in the late 1950s, major progress has occurred in the field of breeding value evaluation and, more recently, with the advent of genomics and its potential contribution to genetic improvement. Various challenge...