Genetic Models for Animal Breeding

This course is a part of Animal Breeding and Genetics, a 2-course Professional Certificate series from edX.

Animal breeding involves the selective breeding of domestic animals with the intention to improve desirable (and heritable) qualities in the next generation. This course introduces the steps required to design a program for breeding animals and teaches the genetic and statistical concepts that are needed to build a solid breeding program.

In this course you will learn how an animal breeder balances the need for improving desirable qualities of the animals with the need for genetic diversity and long sustainability of the program. The scientific concepts in genetics that are applied in animal breeding will be explained and you will learn to apply the models and computational methods that are used in animal breeding.

Prerequisites

Knowledge in the area of statistics at 2nd or 3rd year university level is needed to follow this course successfully.

For whom

Professionals working with animals will use the knowledge from this course to understand the impact of breeding on their populations, and will be able to include the genetic principles in their decisions. For further studies such as M.Sc. level courses in breeding and genetics, this course will allow you an advanced starting point.

Although this course is open to everyone, it is particular useful for breeders of:

Cows

Poultry/Chicken

Horses

Pigs/Swine

Dogs

Sheep

Goat

Fish

Shrimp

Professional Certificate Program

This course is part of the Professional Certificate Program "Animal Breeding and Genetics". Join the other course in the program, Evaluating Animal Breeding Programs, and advance your career as a breeder.

The course is developed with financial support and input from the Koepon Foundation and the African Chicken Genetic Gains project.

What you'll learn

• The steps required in setting up a breeding program.
• Understanding of the main concepts in animal breeding.
• Applying genetic models and tools to predict the breeding value of animals.
• Applying tools to predict genetic change and/or inbreeding in populations.
• Understand the dissemination of genetic progress in different animal