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Submitted to: Herd Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 2/6/2015 Publication Date: 3/11/2015 Citation: Van Raden, P.M. 2015. Impact of genomic collaboration and the need to continually improve methods. Herd Conference. Bendigo, Australia, March 11-12, 3 pp. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The rapidly expanding field of dairy genomics requires collaboration with other countries and new ways to continually improve methods of genomic prediction. Genomics began for North American dairy cattle in 2008, and the accuracy of genomic predictions improved when foreign reference bull genotypes were added. The quality of genotypes received from testing labs continues to be of high quality. This has led to a proliferation of new chips of both lower and higher density that can produce nearly the same accuracy for less than half price, or fifteen times more markers for twice the price. The missing markers from other chips that contain subsets of markers can be accurately predicted by a method known as imputation. Many new lethal recessive genes have been discovered, and incorrect or unknown ancestors have been identified for large numbers of commercial and elite cattle. The rapid growth of genomic databases can quickly cause previously tested statistical methods and validations to become outdated. Animals are often genotyped at birth, and breeders have demanded quicker, more frequent evaluations. Computer programs must be constantly revised to keep up with database sizes that have doubled each year for the past six years to nearly 1 million genotyped animals today. Dairy cattle genomic progress will improve rapidly using these new tools and contribute toward feeding the growing human population. |
