Slective Breeding Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is Selective Breeding?
Selective breeding is when humans choose organisms with desired characteristics and breed them together to get offspring with those features.
It’s also called artificial selection.
What is it used for?
Selective breeding is used in plants and animals to improve:
How does selective breeding work? Step by step
- Choose parents with desired features
(e.g. fast horses, high-yield wheat).- Breed them together.
- From the offspring, choose the ones with the best features.
- Repeat over many generations.
Eventually, the population will have mostly individuals with the wanted characteristics.
Examples of Selective Breeding
• Dogs bred for temperament or strength (e.g. guide dogs)
• Cows bred for high milk production
• Wheat bred for disease resistance and high yield
• Fruit trees bred for size and taste
Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
Selective breeding is done by humans, not
Nature
It takes many
Generations
Inbreeding =
smaller gene pool = higher risk of harmful recessive alleles showing up
Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
Traits chosen can be for
farming, appearance, or behaviour
What is selective breeding?
When humans breed plants or animals for desired traits.
Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
What is another name for selective breeding?
Artificial selection.
Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
Give one example of selective breeding in animals.
Cows bred for more milk / dogs bred for gentle nature.
Give one example of selective breeding in plants.
Crops bred for disease resistance / bigger fruit
Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
What is a disadvantage of selective breeding?
Reduced gene pool or inbreeding.
