BREEDING AND GENETICS OF LIVESTOCK AND COMPANION ANIMALS
Introduces the concepts and tools of quantitative genetics and applies them to the improvement of livestock and companion animals, making it highly relevant to veterinary medicine, animal health, and breeding program design. Using real and simulated data, valuate breeding values, interpret genetic evaluations, explore crossbreeding systems, and understand how genetic principles guide decisions in both production animals and clinical/reproductive settings.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY/BOTANY 151 , ( ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY 101 and 102 ), ( BIOCORE 382 , 383 , and 384 ), or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Mathematics & Quantitative Reasoning Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Compute and interpret narrow- and broad-sense heritability, repeatability, and other genetic parameters using provided datasets. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Apply additive and multiplicative adjustments to phenotypic records to correct for environmental effects. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Interpret sire summaries and large-scale genetic evaluations. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Predict correlated responses to selection and evaluate multi-trait selection decisions. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Calculate hybrid vigor and retained heterosis across crossbreeding systems. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Design and analyze family-based datasets using regression and ANOVA. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Communicate breeding recommendations using the language and frameworks of animal genetics. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 8. Describe the basics of mixed models and Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP). Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Compute and interpret narrow- and broad-sense heritability, repeatability, and other genetic parameters using provided datasets. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Apply additive and multiplicative adjustments to phenotypic records to correct for environmental effects. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Interpret sire summaries and large-scale genetic evaluations. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Predict correlated responses to selection and evaluate multi-trait selection decisions. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Calculate hybrid vigor and retained heterosis across crossbreeding systems. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Design and analyze family-based datasets using regression and ANOVA. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Communicate breeding recommendations using the language and frameworks of animal genetics. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 8. Describe the basics of mixed models and Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP). Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027