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Commercially-available DNA Tests for Beef Cattle

Last Updated: February 03, 2011

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Fact Sheet Written by:

Alison Van Eenennaam, PhD Cooperative Extension Specialist University of California

And Provided by

University of California, Davis


Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) is the process of using the results of DNA-marker tests to assist in the selection of individuals to become the parents in the next generation of a genetic improvement program. Selection may be based on test results associated with simple traits such as coat color, horned status, or simply inherited genetic defects. Such traits are determined by the inheritance of specific alleles at known genes and so tests are able to accurately assess whether an animal is a “carrier” (i.e. heterozygous) or will “breed true” (homozygous) for that trait (e.g. red versus black coat color).

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DNA Tests

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