Explain how selective breeding could be used to produce a breed of dog with a gentle temperament.

Edexcel GCSE Biology (1BI0) — 4.3 Selective breeding and genetic engineering · Explain · 4 marks · View as Markdown

Written & reviewed by James Millett — Biology (Imperial College London), PGCE Science (University of Cambridge).

Dogs have been bred by humans for thousands of years to produce animals suited to different purposes. Breeders today are interested in developing dogs with reliably calm and gentle temperaments for use as assistance animals.

Model answer (4 marks)

Select dogs that display the gentlest temperament from the current population. Breed these selected dogs together to produce offspring. From the resulting litter, choose the individuals that again show the most gentle behaviour and breed them. Repeat this selection and breeding cycle over many generations. With each generation the proportion of the gentle temperament trait rises, so that eventually the breed reliably displays a calm and gentle nature.

Examiner tips

  • Use the word ‘select’ to show the first step of choosing the gentlest dogs.
  • Show the cycle of breeding and re‑selection – this demonstrates the iterative nature of selective breeding.
  • Mention that the process is repeated over many generations to increase the trait’s frequency.
  • Use UK spelling and clear, concise sentences.

Mark scheme (4 marks)

  1. Select/identify dogs that show the most gentle temperament from the existing population
  2. Breed the selected dogs together (with each other)
  3. Select the offspring that show the most gentle temperament and breed them again / repeat the process over many generations
  4. Over time / many generations, the frequency of the gentle temperament trait increases in the population / offspring reliably show a gentle temperament

Key terms in this question

selective breeding

Related

More Selective breeding and genetic engineering questions

▶ Try answering this question with AI marking (free) →