Genomic selection and its application in animal breeding

Abstract

A significant gap exists between animal production and world’s population demand. Although conventional breeding methods have been effectual for selection of animal populations on many traits of economic importance, with these methods, the accuracy of breeding value always remains questionable. Simulation and experimental results suggest that breeding values can be predicted with high accuracy by genomic selection for young animals without own performance. Genomic selection is a type of marker-assisted selection in which genetic markers covering the whole genome are used so that all quantitative trait loci are in linkage disequilibrium with at least one marker. The possibility to select animals at an early stage allows defining new breeding strategies aiming at boosting genetic progress while reducing costs. Genomic selection is the future of livestock breeding companies; it improves the genetic gain by decreasing genetic interval and improving reliability. Further research is required to improve the accuracy of genomic estimated value and manage long-term genetic gain. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of the developments of genomic selection and its application in animal breeding.