dr. YCJ (Yvonne) Wientjes
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During my PhD, I investigated the potential to combine populations for Genomic Selection. In this project, I derived a prediction equation to predict the benefit of combining populations before data are collected. During my postdoc in the ‘GenoMiX’-project, I investigate how to use Genomic Selection to improve the performances of crossbred production animals by selecting the best purebred breeding animals. My current project focusses on investigating the long-term effects of Genomic Selection. In this project, I want to investigate if and how fast Genomic Selection changes the genetic architecture of traits. This work is financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) via a personal veni grant.
My research ambition is to improve animal breeding technologies to increase the efficiency and quality of livestock production. As an animal breeder, I aim to use the variation between animals more optimally to improve the performances, health and welfare of future animal populations. In my research, I mainly focus on the theoretical aspects of the technology ‘Genomic Selection’, which is currently used in most breeding programs worldwide.