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title: "1.1 The history of animal breeding: science and application"
canonical: "https://wiki.groenkennisnet.nl/space/TAB/270893057/1.1%20The%20history%20of%20animal%20breeding%3A%20science%20and%20application"
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There are 5 very important aspects that should be considered in animal breeding:

1. Most importantly, obviously for selective breeding to be successful it is essential that the trait (e.g. running speed or milk production or coat colour) under selection is heritable.
2. That animals have different genetic backgrounds so that selection is possible.
3. The direction of selection is defined by humans and they decide which animals are allowed to mate and produce members of the next generation.
4. Success of animal breeding can be judged by looking at a shift in population average phenotype from one generation to the next. So animal breeding works at population level, not automatically at individual level.
5. Success of animal breeding can be measured as the cumulative result of multiple generations of selection. Breeding decisions are made with the future in mind.

> ℹ️ **Definitions**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ *A ****trait**** is "a distinguishing phenotypic characteristic, typically belonging to an individual". In practice this means anything you can record or measure on an individual.*    
> ℹ️ *A ****phenotype**** is that what you observe or measure on the animal for a certain trait. It can depend both on the genetic background of the animal (provided it is heritable) and external circumstances such as level of nutrition*

> Macro (children)