How does selective breeding influence genetic traits?

Selective breeding is a process used by humans to cultivate particular desired traits in plants and animals. This is accomplished by choosing parent organisms that exhibit these traits and breeding them together. The offspring produced are more likely to inherit these desired characteristics, facilitating their expression within the population.

The approach effectively manipulates the genes of the organisms, allowing breeders to emphasize traits such as size, color, yield, disease resistance, and behavior. Over time and through successive generations, the frequency of these preferred traits increases in the population.

While selective breeding can lead to genetic uniformity within a cultivated population, promoting similar traits across many individuals, its primary function is to encourage the inheritance of desired traits rather than prohibiting traits entirely or enhancing genetic diversity. Thus, the ability to selectively breed for specific traits is a central mechanism by which genetic traits are influenced in future generations.