Selective breeding

Question 1

What is selective breeding

Answer 1

When humans artificially select the plants or animals that are going to breed so that the genes for particular characteristics remain in the population

Question 2

What reasons are there for selective breeding

Answer 2

Animals that produce more meat or milk
Crops with disease resistance
Dogs with a good gentle temperament
Decorative plants with big or unusual flowers

Question 3

How do you do selective breeding?

Answer 3

1. From your existing stock, select the ones which have the characteristics you’re after
2. Breed them with each other
3. Select the best offspring and breed them together
4. Continue this process over several generations

Question 4

What are the benefits of selective breeding in agriculture?

Answer 4

Can be used to improve yields, Meat yields

Question 5

What is a disadvantage of Selective breeding?

Answer 5

Reduces the gene pool- the number of different alleles in a population

Question 6

What is inbreeding

Answer 6

When farmers keep breeding from the ‘best’ animals or plants- which are all closely related.

Question 7

What health problems can Inbreeding cause?

Answer 7

There’s a higher chance of the organism inheriting harmful genetic defects when the gene pool is limited

Question 8

What happens if a new disease appears?

Answer 8

Since there isn’t much variation
All the stock are closely related to each other so if one dies of a disease the others are likely to succumb to it