Applications of Quantitative Genetics in Livestock Production

Dear Colleagues,

The genetic improvement of livestock in the last 100 years has been remarkable. Most of this genetic change has been due to the application of quantitative genetics. During the 1920s and 1930s, population genetics came of age as the leaders in the field sought to describe genes and chromosomes. Following World War II, J. L. Lush, L. N. Hazel, and others developed the concepts of selection indices and breeding values. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, computing technology advanced to the point where breed associations were able to be generated across herd genetic evaluations using the selection index theory and the mixed model equations first suggested by C. R. Henderson. In the 1980s, BLUP the methodology and reduced animal model were developed, thus allowing for the estimation of expected progeny differences and predicting the transmitting abilities within the breeds of livestock. Another major event in the 1980s was the launch of the genomics era. The genomes of many livestock species have been sequenced, and a large number of evenly spaced genetic markers have been identified. The availability of marker panels of thousands of SNPs, along with new computing technologies, such as a single-step approach to incorporating genomic information into EPDs, have made genomic selection a reality, and have greatly increased the accuracy of selection, even for young animals and for difficult to measure traits such as disease resistance, longevity, and feed efficiency. Much has been accomplished, but much work remains for quantitative geneticists who work with livestock. The commercial genotyping of livestock has been accomplished for millions of animals. Therefore, vast amounts of genomic data remain to be mined. Much remains to be learned concerning the genetic architecture of complex traits and how this knowledge can be applied to livestock production.

Prof. Michael E. Davis
Collection Editor

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