Identification of functional genetic variants in pigs for improved genomic selection

Selection of animals in pig breeding, increasingly is focused on traits related to health and welfare of the animals. Genomic information plays an important role in the selection (referred to as "Genomic Selection"; GS). The accuracy of GS can be improved by using causal variants for these traits. The majority of variants affect the expression of genes and have not been identified. We will use artificial intelligence to identify such causal variants with emphasis on health and welfare traits. Variants that have been shown to affect gene expression (eQTL) will be tested for GS within several commercial pig breeding lines.