How to calculate the inbreeding coefficient

In general terms, inbreeding is where the sire and dam have ancestors in common. The level of inbreeding is simply how closely related these relatives are across the sire and dam lines. The standard (mathematical) measure for the level of inbreeding is the Inbreeding Co-efficient. It indicates the probability (between 0% and 100%) that genes at a randomly chosen location in the DNA are identical by descent. The technique assumes that there are 2 forms of a gene and that each form has an equal chance to be passed on to the next generation. One limitation on calculating inbreeding coefficients is the depth of pedigrees available. Animals with a shallow pedigree may have a low inbreeding coefficient simply because their related ancestors are not on the database. Inbreeding Depression Inbreeding depression is a term used to describe the reduction in performance and viability due to the increase in inbreeding levels (reduced genetic variation). Reproductive fitness tends to be affected more than performance traits in this respect. The extent of inbreeding depression depends on the population being measured, the level of genes already fixed in the population, the frequency of any deleterious genes that may exist in the population and chance effects of which particular genes are affected. There is no defined limit as to what is an acceptable level of inbreeding in domestic animal populations. However, inbreeding depression is likely to be more apparent once inbreeding levels get to above 10%. As a very rough guide, there is often a 2-20% decrease in performance of the trait per 10% of inbreeding coefficient. #inbreeding #geneticDiversity #inbreedingDefects #whatHappensWhenYouInbreed #inbreedingInHumans #inbreedingDeformities #whatHappensWithInbreeding #inbreed #habsburgInbreeding #headSqueeze #bbc #inbreedingDogs #chromosomes #outbreeding #gregFoot #whatBreedingDoes #bbcEarthLab #DNA #inbreedingDefinition #mating #genetic #genePools #bloodRelations #earthLab #NikolaysGeneticsLessons #biology #coefficientOfInbreeding #inbreedingCoefficient