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Transboundary connectivity is a key component when conserving and managing animal species that require large areas to maintain viable population sizes. Wolves Canis lupus recolonized the Scandinavian Peninsula in the early 1980s. The population is geographically isolated and relies on immigration to not lose genetic diversity and to maintain long term viability. In this study we address (1) to what extent the genetic diversity among Scandinavian wolves has recovered during 30 years since its foundation in relation to the source populations in Finland and Russia, (2) if immigration has occurred from both Finland and Russia, two countries with very different wolf management and legislative obligations to ensure long term viability of wolves, and (3) if immigrants can be assumed to be unrelated. Using 26 microsatellite loci we found that although the genetic diversity increased among Scandinavian wolves (n = 143), it has not reached the same levels found in Finland (n = 25) or in Russia (n = 19). Low genetic differentiation between Finnish and Russian wolves, complicated our ability to determine the origin of immigrant wolves (n = 20) with respect to nationality. Nevertheless, based on differences in allelic richness and private allelic richness between the two countries, results supported the occurrence of immigration from both countries. A priori assumptions that immigrants are unrelated is non-advisable, since 5.8% of the pair-wise analyzed immigrants were closely related. To maintain long term viability of wolves in Northern Europe, this study highlights the potential and need for management actions that facilitate transboundary dispersal.

Human alteration of natural systems, and its consequences are of great concern and the impact on global ecosystems is one of the biggest threats that biodiversity stands before. Translocations of invasive species, as well as intraspecific contingents with non-native genotypes, whether they are deliberate or unintentional, are one such alteration and its consequences are continuously being assessed. The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is the most numerous and widespread duck in the world and a flagship in wetland conservation. It is also an important game species which is heavily restocked for hunting purposes, especially in Europe where over three million ducklings are released every year. Because of its hunted status, its abundance, and the number of released individuals, it can serve as a model species to study effects of releases, both for conservation and restocking for hunting, on wild populations. In this thesis the status of the mallard was assessed in the Nordic countries and the effects of releases on the wild populations were studied by mining historical ringing data, comparing morphology of present-day wild, farmed, and historical mallards, and analyzing phylogeography of wild and farmed mallards in Europe. The status of the mallard population in the Nordic countries are generally good, however, a joint effort of European countries is needed to monitor and manage the population. A significant difference between wild and farmed mallards concerning longevity, migration, bill morphology and genetic structure was also found, together with signs of cryptic introgression of farmed genotypes in the wild population with potential fitness reduction as a result. The effect is however limited by that only a fraction of released farmed mallards reach the breeding season due to low survival. A natural captive environment is crucial to keep individuals wild-like with high survival rates after release. However, with an introgression of potentially maladapted farmed genotypes leading to a reduction in fitness, a low survival of released mallards would favor the wild population. A legislative change regarding obligation to report numbers, provenance, and release sites of farmed mallard should be considered, together with practical solutions of ringing and genetic monitoring of released mallards.

This study aimed at assessing haplotype diversity and population dynamics of three Congolese indigenous goat populations that included Kasai goat (KG), small goat (SG), and dwarf goat (DG) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The 1169 bp d-loop region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was sequenced for 339 Congolese indigenous goats. The total length of sequences was used to generate the haplotypes and evaluate their diversities, whereas the hypervariable region (HVI, 453 bp) was analyzed to define the maternal variation and the demographic dynamic. A total of 568 segregating sites that generated 192 haplotypes were observed from the entire d-loop region (1169 bp d-loop). Phylogenetic analyses using reference haplotypes from the six globally defined goat mtDNA haplogroups showed that all the three Congolese indigenous goat populations studied clustered into the dominant haplogroup A, as revealed by the neighbor-joining (NJ) tree and median-joining (MJ) network. Nine haplotypes were shared between the studied goats and goat populations from Pakistan (1 haplotype), Kenya, Ethiopia and Algeria (1 haplotype), Zimbabwe (1 haplotype), Cameroon (3 haplotypes), and Mozambique (3 haplotypes). The population pairwise analysis (F-ST) indicated a weak differentiation between the Congolese indigenous goat populations. Negative and significant (p-value <.05) values for Fu's Fs (-20.418) and Tajima's (-2.189) tests showed the expansion in the history of the three Congolese indigenous goat populations. These results suggest a weak differentiation and a single maternal origin for the studied goats. This information will contribute to the improvement of the management strategies and long-term conservation of indigenous goats in DRC.

You may not have thought about why tomatoes look the way they do, why our pets and farm animals are so calm and friendly, or how it is possible to get a watermelon without any seeds in it. Although the breeding of plants and livestock have shaped more or less everything we eat, few people know about the scientific achievements and the tedious work that results in the food we see on our plates every day. With this book we wish to give an overview of the background of domestication and breeding, from the beginning of farming more than 10,000 years ago to the molecular work of today. We present the basics of the structures and functions of genes, describe why and how different breeding methods are applied to crops and livestock, and give some insight into legislation surrounding the use of biotechnology in breeding in the EU and in Sweden. We also provide an overview of different products produced through genetic modification, a summary of the economic impact of such crops, and some ethical issues related to breeding in general and to genetic modification in particular.

Explores the development of medical genetics & genetic counseling in the US & GB & its association with eugenics. The beliefs of noted scientists of the time -- eg, reproduction was not a private but a social matter, & medical genetics should serve to improve the race -- are examined, focusing on geneticists' commitment to birth control & their concern with mental over physical traits. The connotations associated with the term eugenics & distinguishing good from bad eugenics are also discussed. An analysis is presented of the changes in the use of genetic services, which now show a concern for the welfare of individual families over society & benefit women's choices, since the legalization of abortion in 1973. C. Haywood

Sheldon Reed coined the expression "genetic counseling" in 1947, the same year he succeeded Clarence P. Oliver as Director of the University of Minnesota's Dight Institute for Human Genetics. In reflections written more than a quarter-century later, Reed noted that the term had occurred to him "as a kind of genetic social work without eugenic connotations." Sharply distinguishing the aims of eugenics and counseling, he explained that whereas the former promotes the interests of the larger society, the latter serves the interests of individual families—as families perceive them. Reed never denied that he or other postwar medical geneticists were concerned with population improvement. But he maintained that counseling served a different purpose. Commenting on the history of the Dight Institute, Reed asserted: "There were certainly no attempts to benefit society as a whole in dealing with these families. This was not thought of as a program of eugenics."

Studies have documented substantial increases in obesity throughout most of the industrialized world in recent decades. The majority of explanations for these increases have centred around environmental factors such as the increasing availability of high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods and sedentary lifestyles. This study sought to determine if genetic factors might be contributing to the increases in the proportions of North Americans who are obese and overweight. The body mass index (BMI) for a large sample of two generations of United States and Canadian subjects was correlated with family fertility indicators. Small but highly significant positive correlations were found between the BMIs of family members and their reproduction rates, especially in the case of women. For instance, mothers in the sample (most of whom were born in the 1940s and 50s) who were in the normal or below normal range had an average of 4·3 siblings and 3·2 children, compared with 4·8 siblings and 3·5 children for mothers who were overweight or obese. When combined with evidence from twin and adoption studies indicating that genes make substantial contributions to obesity, this study suggests that recent increases in obesity are partially the result of overweight and obese women having more children than is true for average and underweight women. It is speculated that improvements in medical treatments for conditions associated with obesity – particularly diabetes and heart disease – are making it possible for overweight women to live longer and to be more fertile than was true historically.

Harden, K. P. (2021). The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social equality. Princeton University Press.

1. The genetical foundation -- 1. Continuous variation -- 2. The genic basis -- 3. Assaying the chromosomes -- 4. Locating the genes -- 2. The biometrical approach -- 5. The manifestation of polygenic systems -- 6. Genetic analysis and somatic analysis -- 7. Biometrical genetics -- 3. Additive and dominance effects -- 8. Components of means -- 9. Testing the model -- 10. Scales -- 11. Components of variation: F2 and back-crosses -- 12. Generations derived from F2 -- 13. The balance sheet of genetic variability -- 14. Partitioning the variation -- 4. Diallels -- 15. The principles of diallel analysis -- 16. An example of a simple diallel -- 17. Undefined diallels -- 18. An example of an undefined diallel -- 5. Genic interaction and linkage -- 19. Non-allelic interaction -- 20. Interaction as displayed by means -- 21. Variances and covariances -- 22. Correlated gene distributions: linkage -- 23. Diallels -- 6. Interaction of genotype and environment -- 24. Genotype x environment interaction -- 25. Two genotypes and two environments -- 26. A more complex case -- 27. The relation of g to e -- 28. Crosses between inbred lines -- 29. Variance of F2 -- 7. Randomly breeding populations -- 30. The components of variation -- 31. Human populations -- 32. The use of twins -- 33. Experimental analysis -- 34. Complicating factors -- 35. Heritability -- 8. Genes and effective factors -- 36. Estimating the number of segregating genes -- 37. Consequences of linkage: effective factors -- 38. Other sources of estimates -- 9. Conclusion -- 39. Designing the experiments -- 40. Concepts and uses -- Glossary of symbols and abbreviations -- References.

Intro -- Table of Contents -- About the Editor -- Notes on Contributors -- Preface -- PART I: Anthropological Genetics in Context -- CHAPTER 1: History and Evolution of Anthropological Genetics -- INTRODUCTION -- ROOTS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL GENETICS -- EARLY ANTHROPOLOGICAL GENETICS -- FIELD INVESTIGATIONS -- MOLECULAR GENETIC REVOLUTION -- FUTURE OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL GENETICS -- CHAPTER 2: The Ethics of Genetic Ancestry Testing -- INTRODUCTION -- BACKGROUND ON ANCESTRY TESTS -- ANCESTRY ESTIMATIONS OF PRESENT‐DAY POPULATIONS -- RECREATIONAL AND FORENSIC USES OF DNA ANCESTRY -- CONCLUSION AND EMERGING CONCERNS -- CHAPTER 3: Community‐Oriented Research and the Future of Anthropological Genetics -- THE LEGACY OF MISTRUST OF SCIENTISTS BY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS -- WHY ARE NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES INTERESTED IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL GENETICS RESEARCH? -- MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES -- DIVERSIFYING THE FIELD OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL GENETICS -- ANCIENT DNA ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS IN COLONIZED REGIONS -- CONCLUSION -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- PART II: Macroevolution and Phylogenetics -- CHAPTER 4: Calibrating the Clock -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- CHAPTER 5: Primate Genomics and Phylogenetics -- NEXT‐GENERATION SEQUENCING: THE PATHS TO STRANGE, UNEXPLORED WORLDS -- COMPARING PRIMATE GENOMES -- PRIMATE GENOMES AT THE POPULATION LEVEL -- BEYOND THE GENOME: TRANSCRIPTOME, METHYLOME, AND MICROBIOME -- A GENOMICS FRAMEWORK TO STUDY PRIMATE BEHAVIOR -- LOOKING DEEPER: LONGITUDINAL STUDIES -- RESOLVING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PRIMATES AND THEIR HABITAT USING GENOMICS -- TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTEGRATION OF NEXT‐GENERATION SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGIES TO PRIMATE RESEARCH -- CHAPTER 6: The Neanderthal and Denisovan Genomes -- ARCHAIC HOMININ GENOMES -- HOMININ ADMIXTURE -- CONCLUSION.