Animal Breeding and Genetics
Offered By: Wageningen University via edX
Course Description
Overview
In this Professional Certificate Program, the focus is on the design, the set-up, execution and optimization of animal breeding programs, genetic improvement and conservation of genetic diversity.
Follow this program and learn what the key factors are for improving and increasing productivity and learn what it takes to create and maintain a healthy and strong population.
You will learn about the basic principles of population, quantitative and molecular genetics. Biological aspects are integrated in the courses by the many hands-on assignments as well. Professionals working with animals will be able to use the knowledge from these courses to understand the impact of breeding on animal populations and to use genetic principles to make their decisions. Furthermore, following this program will give you an advanced starting point for further studies, such as MSc. level courses in animal breeding.
For who
Although this course is open to everyone, it is particular useful for breeders of:
- Cows
- Poultry/Chicken
- Horses
- Pigs/Swine
- Dogs
- Sheep
- Fish
- Shrimp
This program is a great step towards understanding the principles of animal breeding and the sector. Depending upon the animal industry of interest, animal scientists can work in jobs such as cattle breed association representative, dairy industry breeding consultant and/or company representative for Artificial Insemination (AI) companies. Or you can be working for a private breeding company in the case of the swine, poultry and aquaculture industries. In fact, some scientists with experience in animal breeding and genetics go on to work for plant breeding companies.
Join this Professional Certificate Program made by top-experts from Wageningen University & Research, ranked #1 for agricultural sciences in the NTU ranking. By joining the program, you become part of the growing community of students that are trained at the Animal Breeding and Genomics Group, which is the centre of excellence for all national and international animal breeding and genomics activities of Wageningen University & Research. The centre is a preferred knowledge and business partner for many national and international clients from both the public and private sector. This includes breeding organisations in commercial and non-commercial livestock, pet animals and horses, the EU and national and foreign governments.
Syllabus
Course 1: Genetic Models for Animal Breeding
Understand the genetic and statistic principles that enable responsible animal breeding. Learn how to set up a breeding programme and apply genetic models and tools to predict the breeding value. Subscribe to this online course now.
Course 2: Evaluating Animal Breeding Programmes
Learn how to evaluate an ongoing breeding programme in terms of both genetic progress and genetic diversity, and how to translate that genetic progress from the breeding programme to the farmer’s work.
Courses
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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.
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Animal breeding, and especially breeding of farm animals and aquaculture species, has developed into a professional industry with modern technologies, large-scale data collection, and analyses. This has resulted in very efficient and effective breeding programs. However, in many developing countries, and for many lesser known livestock and fish species there is a need for tailor-made breeding programs. In this MOOC, you will learn about the implementation and evaluation of both large industrial scale and the tailor-made breeding programs, in terms of genetic progress and genetic diversity.
Together with other learners, you will dive into the reasons behind crossbreeding in relation to dissemination of genetic improvement. It is essential to know how key biological factors affect the structure of a breeding program and to understand the different structures a breeding program can have.
Join this course and learn everything about how to properly evaluate breeding programs. In several knowledge clips and assignments, you will learn how to assess the effects of legislation, competition, GxE, new technology on breeding programs.
Eliminating diseases
Two special sections are devoted to genetic diversity and, more specifically, to (i) monogenic recessive disorders, and (ii) genetic diversity at the population level. Monogenic recessive disorders play an important role in breeding programs for companion animals such as dogs and horses. Modern DNA sequencing technology now makes it possible not only to detect these mutations but also to design breeding strategies aimed at eliminating these diseases. Genetic diversity at population level is important to maintain flexibility in populations and to keep animal populations healthy. In this course, you will learn more about how to monitor and conserve genetic diversity in breeding programmes.After finishing this course you can make informed decisions when setting up a breeding program for a specific animal in a specific production system and recognize and identify key elements of the course in real-life examples of breeding programs.
Prerequisites
Please know that knowledge of statistics at a 2nd or 3rd year university level is needed to follow this course successfully. This course partially builds on knowledge gained in the MOOC Genetic Models for Animal Breeding.For Whom
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 Programme "Animal Breeding and Genetics". Join the other course in the programme, Genetic Models for Animal Breeding, and advance your career as a breeder.
The course is developed with financial support and input from the Koepon Foundation.
Taught by
Hans Komen, Han Mulder, Piter Bijma, John Bastiaansen and Mario Calus
Tags
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