Yang Da, Principal Investigator

Graphical Visualization of Gene Flows in Large Complex Pedigrees

Graphical pedigree visualization of gene flows in a population is helpful for identifying the genetic trend of a characteristic and for selecting an optimal population structure for gene mapping. However, such graphical visualization is tremendously difficult in large complex pedigrees. Recently, this researcher has developed the “Pedigraph” computer program to implement the task of graphical visualization of these pedigrees; initial tests of the program have been successful. The researcher is now testing the feasibility of the Pedigraph program for large cattle populations and to identify the genetic trait of female fertility, a difficult problem facing the dairy industry. Several million records, at least, must be processed. This huge amount of data and the computationally intensive graphic displays necessitate the use of the supercomputers.