Genomic selection

Genomic Selection (GS) predicts the breeding values of an offspring in a population by associating their traits (e.g. resistance to pests) with their high-density genetic marker scores. GS is a method proposed to address deficiencies of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs. However, GS is a form of MAS that differs from it by estimating, at the same time, all genetic markers, haplotypes or marker effects along the entire genome to calculate the values of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV). The potentiality of GS is to explain the genetic diversity of a breeding program through a high coverage of genome-wide markers and to assess the effects of those markers to predict breeding values.