Research at the Section of Applied Genetics

The research in applied genetics is focused on how to improve animal populations for traits like production, performance, health, fertility and temperament. We study both food producing livestock and fish as well as sport and companion animals. We also work with research questions about sustainable breeding goals and breeding programs, adjusted both to the biology of the studied species and to the environmental, economic and social conditions under which the animals are used. We integrate knowledge and methods from quantitative and molecular genetics with other types of biological, statistical and practical knowledge. We also work with e.g. computer simulations and tools from social science. We deal with different types of data, such as already collected field recordings, new trial data and data from surveys. An important aspect is to study how to include new types of recordings, such as progesterone levels in milk, greenhouse gas emissions, and scores from behavioural tests for companion animals.