Animal geneticists have developed powerful methods for identifying genetically superior parents. These are based on pedigree information and performance records, the only information on genotype available until recently. The observed performance is a combination of genotype, environment and their interactions, so identifying superior genetics is difficult. But the success of this methodology is evident from an example of milk production in the Jersey breed.

Changes in breeding value (red) reflect increased genetic merit of the population, and should lead to changes in production (blue). [Data from Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory, USDA http://www.aipl.arsusda.gov/]

But with the recent developments in genomics, geneticists now can actually observe the genotype of individuals. The Animal Science departmental geneticists have the primary mission of improving animal agriculture through advances in genetic technology. In the next few years, this will focus on incorporating genomic data in traditional genetic evaluation methodology.

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