Preface (2024)

Preface: Prof. Roel Veerkamp,  Wageningen University & Research, Animal Breeding and Genomics.

The Textbook Animal Breeding and Genetics for BSc students was written in 2015 by Kor Oldenbroek and Liesbeth van der Waaij. It is heavily used worldwide in courses and by individuals actively involved in animal breeding. After the digital publication in the English and Dutch language several developments made an update of various chapters useful: breeding goals were extended e.g. with characteristics related to climate changes, global food security, animal welfare, resilience and health of the animals involved. And new key technologies for animal breeding programs were developed: e.g. DNA-analysis, genomic prediction of breeding values, phenotyping with sensors and analysis of large data samples of frequent measurements on a large number of animals. The implementation of these key technologies significantly changed breeding programs. Therefore, Wageningen University & Research, Animal Breeding and Genomics took the initiative to rewrite and update the paragraphs in the Textbook that became outdated. Together with its Breed4Food partners CRV, Topigs Norsvin, Hendrix Genetics en Cobb Europe BV they got a project granted by “Kennis op Maat” from the Topsector Agri&Food that facilitated the revision and update of the Textbook. The revised and updated paragraphs are clearly marked in this 2024 version by (2024) in the heading.

When you have questions about the text, please send an email to: kor.oldenbroek@wur.nl

This textbook, the texts, the figures and pictures maybe be used freely for educational purposes. When you are using parts of  this textbook for publication, please read and respect the disclaimer of Wageningen UR: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Disclaimer.htm   

In case you want to refer to material in this textbook: the proper citation is: Kor Oldenbroek and Mario Calus, 2024. Textbook Animal Breeding and Genetics for BSc students, second edition. Wageningen University & Research, Animal Breeding and Genomics, 2024. Groen Kennisnet: https://wiki-groenkennisnet.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/TAB/overview 

NB: Bee breeding will not be covered in this textbook. When you are interested see: : Brascamp, E.W., Uzunov, A., Bijma, P. Du, M. (2024) Genetics of selection in honeybees, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.18174/677857.

A translation in German is also available see: (PDF) Selektionsgenetik der Honigbiene