Nourollah Ahmadi - Genomic Prediction of Complex Traits : Methods and Protocols

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For over 35 years, biological scientists have come to rely on the research protocols and methodologies in the critically acclaimed Methods in Molecular Biology series. The series was the first to introduce the step-by-step protocols approach that has become the standard in all biomedical protocol publishing. Each protocol is provided in readily-reproducible step-by-step fashion, opening with an introductory overview, a list of the materials and reagents needed to complete the experiment, and followed by a detailed procedure that is supported with a helpful notes section offering tips and tricks of the trade as well as troubleshooting advice. These hallmark features were introduced by series editor Dr. John Walker and constitute the key ingredient in each and every volume of the Methods in Molecular Biology series. Tested and trusted, comprehensive and reliable, all protocols from the series are indexed in PubMed.

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Over the last three decades, steady progresses within the fields of molecular genetics and quantitative genetics have led to two major breakthroughs in genetics, genetic mapping and genomic prediction of complex traits of imperfectly known biological bases, with immense potential impact in the applied fields of human health and agriculture. The prospect of predicting human disease risks, and complex traits of agronomic interest with reasonably high precision, although they are difficult to evaluate or/and subject to numerous regulations and interactions, has stimulated public and private research. The aims included refining the theoretical bases of genomic prediction, extending its areas of application, fine-tuning the experimental designs for specific cases on different species of interest, and developing dedicated tools. Excitement over the development of methods for genomic prediction has not escaped the one around machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. Results from various simulation works and empirical applications indicate that the quality of prediction depends on the interplay between a large number of factors, including relatedness between the reference and the candidate populations, trait architecture, optimal marker density, prediction methods, and, in the case of traits of agronomic interest, the overall organization of the plant and animal breeding programs. As the concepts and methods of genomic prediction of complex traits mature and are about to become the mainstream approach in dealing with an increasing number of health issues and objectives of animal and plant breeding, it is very timely to assemble the methodological achievements of the field in a volume of the series Methods in Molecular Biology.

This volume is composed of five sections. The first section (Chapter ) is dedicated to lessons learned from a number of applications of genomic prediction in the fields of human health, animal breeding, and plant breeding and to methods for analysis of the economic effectiveness of genomic selection relative to conventional breeding approaches.

As the objective of the volume is to provide a reference resource for students, teachers, practitioners, and for further methodological research, the chapters are designed to include practical examples, while reporting the latest state of knowledge in the field.