Inbreeding

Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives.

If practised repeatedly, it typically leads to a reduction in genetic diversity. Inbreeding often leads to reduced health and fitness (called consanguinity depression); however, livestock breeders often practice inbreeding, then cull unfit offspring, especially when they are trying to establish a new and desirable trait in their stock.

Within humans, the genetic problems caused by inbreeding are often cited as a factor in prohibiting incest.

Inbreeding often occurs in animals. For example, the cheetah is a highly inbred species, probably because of a population bottleneck in the species' recent past. Inbreeding is also deliberately induced in laboratory mice in order to guarantee a consistent and uniform animal model. Human genetic diversity is also limited, indicating a population bottleneck some 100,000 years ago.

Purebred animals are often inbred; some critics argue the practice is unhealthy. [1]