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ASCI 431/831 Advanced Animal Breeding

Spring 2017



Instructors



Time and Location



Office Hours



Prerequisites



Materials

There is no textbook required for this course. Due to the nature of the course, handouts prepared by the instructors and guest lectures, and reading assignments from the scientific literature, web-based materials and reports will be used to illustrate principles, demonstrate applications, and focus lectures on practical outcomes of advanced breeding programs.

Learning Objectives

The objective of this course is to provide students with the necessary knowledge, exposure to research results, and explanation of breeding applications to critically evaluate strengths, weaknesses and expected outcomes of present and potential animal breeding strategies. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the state-of-the-art applications of animal breeding and quantitative genetics (including their benefits and limitations) to the genetic improvement of livestock within the United States and elsewhere in the world.
  2. Demonstrate an ability to locate and interpret research results, and recognize the applications of such research to livestock breeding programs.
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of sources of variation in performance of animals, and the methods used to control or adjust for this variation.
  4. Predict responses to selection for a broad array of selection situations, including the use of molecular markers.
  5. Predict average performance of crossbred populations and mean industry values for breeding systems using crosses of several different breeds.
  6. Plan future breeding program strategies contingent upon the goals that are established.


Syllabus



Schedule

Lectures will be delivered using a whiteboard and presentation slides.