Genetic Analysis Identifies Novel Mutation in Standardbred Horse

The field of genetics has enabled the prediction of susceptibility to heritable diseases and map the genome of many species. Now, modern genetics and the birth of a unique foal in New Zealand has provided a successful example of tracking a mutation at its origin.

Today, the journal Animal Genetics, released a paper demonstrating how the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine determined that a white pattern in a Standardbred foal is a de novo, or novel mutation, meaning that it was not inherited by its sire or dam but instead occurred during the development of the foal.

Read full news release from the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory