Some Recent Developments in the Analysis and Design of Quantitative Genetic Experiments

The design and analysis of experiments to estimate heritability when data are available on both parents and progeny and the offspring have a hierarchical structure is considered. The method of analysis is related to a multivariate analysis of variance and to weighted least squares. It is shown that genetical theory gives a simple interpretation of both maximum likelihood (ML) and Rao's minimum norm quadratic unbiased (MINQUE) methods of estimation of variance components in unbalanced designs.