Genomic selection in poultry

Genomic selection is a recent paradigm shift for animal breeding. The availability of hundreds of thousands of markers covering the entire genome has provided an opportunity to increase the accuracy of estimated breeding values, better manage genetic variation and shorten generation intervals. The development of technology enables more accurate and efficient selection of breeding animals. This is particularly relevant for poultry, for which short generation intervals and relatively large populations allow rapid genetic progress. Over recent decades, we have seen implementation of increasingly complex and computationaly demanding statistical approaches to assess the genetic value of an individual using phenotypic and pedigree information. With the availability of genome sequence and the development of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) DNA marker chips, further improvements can be achieved. Over the last 50 years, genetic selection in poultry has proven to be extremely successful.