We no longer listen to music on records or tapes. When we write, we “keyboard,” using some form of word processor. Our lives have changed profoundly as a consequence of technology. Therefore, it should be no surprise that changes of comparable or even greater magnitude are occurring in the realm of biology.

Before 2000, the two most significant contributions of veterinary genetics to horses were the discovery of the cause of hemolytic disease of newborn foals (neonatal isoerythrolysis) and the invention of parentage testing. Beyond that, genetic principles simply provided a basis for understanding hereditary diseases. From a practical standpoint, genetics was a black box.

The Human Genome Project changed that.

This $3 billion project led to invention of methods and tools that allowed us to inexpensively sequence genomes of other animals, including horses. The horse genome sequence was completed in 2006 and is routinely used to discover the genetic basis for many hereditary diseases, performance traits, and coat color patterns