Patent ID: 8417459

Claim:
A method for determining an individual's probability of exhibiting one or more phenotypic attributes, comprising: a) evaluating genomic markers from the individual for zygosity at each member of a preselected set of markers; wherein each preselected marker has a degree of linkage with one or more of the one or more phenotypic attributes, wherein zygosity is heterozygosity or homozygosity for each selected marker from the preselected set; b) comparing the zygosity of the preselected markers to a multivariate scoring matrix to obtain a marker score, wherein the multivariate scoring matrix correlates patterns of marker zygosity with probabilities of exhibiting the one or more phenotypic attributes, using suitable computer software for use on a computer; wherein the scoring matrix prioritizes markers with respect to one or more criteria selected from the group consisting of synteny with respect to other marker sequences, ontological relevance, quality of supporting research, and degree of phenotypic significance; and c) determining whether the marker score indicates an enhanced, diminished, or average probability of exhibiting one or more phenotypic attributes.