THE technique of relaxing selection by random mating in a population or sample of the population after selection for particular traits has a number of useful purposes. The most significant of these is answering the question; how permanent are the genetic gains in the selected trait? From a commercial point of view, if such gains are permanent a purchaser of chicks could keep on reproducing them for a considerable time without loss of performance. This technique has been used by geneticists in selection experiments to help shed light on a number of factors which affect selection. A principal consideration is some estimation of the effect of natural selection which opposes artificial selection if there is negative correlation between the selected trait and fitness components. The subject of relaxed or attenuated selection is discussed rather extensively by Lerner (1950) and by other authors in recent reports of selection experiments. The objective…
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Shoffner et al. (1960) studied this question.