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Showing posts from November, 2012

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Dr. Jamie Courter is your Mizzou Beef Genetics Extension Specialist

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By Jared E. Decker Many of you have probably noticed that things have been a lot less active on the A Steak in Genomics™   blog, but you probably haven't known why. In January 2021, I was named the Wurdack Chair in Animal Genomics at Mizzou, and I now focus on research, with a little bit of teaching. I no longer have an extension appointment. But, with exciting news, the blog is about to become a lot more active! Jamie Courter began as the new MU Extension state beef genetics specialist in the Division of Animal Sciences on September 1, 2023. I have known Jamie for several years, meeting her at BIF when she was a Masters student. I have been impressed by Jamie in my interactions with her since that time.  Dr. Courter and I have been working closely together the last 6 weeks, and I am excited to work together to serve the beef industry for years to come! Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from North Carolina State University and earned a master's degree in animal

Birth Date Selection Mapping

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My advisor, Jerry Taylor, and I recently developed and published in BMC Genomics a new method to identify ongoing selection on complex or quantitative traits ( A novel analytical method, Birth Date Selection Mapping, detects response of the Angus ( Bos taurus ) genome to selection on complex traits ). Previous methods identify selection which has reached completion (or nearly reach completion) on novel mutations affecting Mendelian traits. A well known example of this type of selection is the adaptation of human populations to digest milk as adults . But, these sweeping selection events are the exception. Blue lines represent hypothetical variants that are drifting randomly through a population with an effective size of 100.  Red lines represent hypothetical variants that are under strong selection. Drifting variants are not associated with birth date. Selected variants change in frequency over time and are strong predictors of birth date. We utilize this fact to identify selected