Systematic Review: Applying novel statistical methods and high dimensional genomic data to assess the genomic relationship between milk production and health traits in German Holstein cattle

Milk production in dairy cows is now widely recognized as being unfavorably associated with deteriorating animal health. However, the literature presents inconsistencies regarding the genetic correlations between these two trait complexes. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to explore the biological and molecular mechanisms linking milk yield and health traits, as well as their causal relationships, using a dataset of ~34,000 cows with 50K genotypes and imputed whole-genome sequence data. The review is mainly based on the results of the dissertation thesis from the first author. Advanced statistical methods were applied to uncover these interrelations. The results reveal a complex and predominantly unfavorable genetic...