Common fruit fly females prefer to mate with their own brothers over unrelated males.<unk>  is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and other consequences that may arise from expression of deleterious or recessive traits resulting from incestuous sexual relationships and consanguinity.<unk>  results in homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by deleterious or recessive traits. This usually leads to at least temporarily decreased biological fitness of a population (called<unk>  depression), which is its ability to survive and reproduce. An individual who inherits such deleterious traits is colloquially referred to as inbred. The avoidance of expression of such deleterious recessive alleles caused by<unk> , via<unk>  avoidance mechanisms, is the main selective reason for outcrossing. Crossbreeding between populations also often has positive effects on fitness-related traits, but also sometimes leads to negative effects known as outbreeding depression. However, increased homozygosity increases probability of fixing beneficial alleles and also slightly decreases probability of fixing deleterious alleles in population.<unk>  can result in purging of deleterious alleles from a population through purifying selection.<unk>  is a technique used in selective breeding. For example, in livestock breeding, breeders may use<unk>  when trying to establish a new and desirable trait in the stock and for producing distinct families within a breed, but will need to watch for undesirable characteristics in offspring, which can then be eliminated through further selective breeding or culling.<unk>  also helps to ascertain the type of gene action affecting a trait.<unk>  is also used to reveal deleterious recessive alleles, which can then be eliminated through assortative breeding or through culling. In plant breeding, inbred lines are used as stocks for the creation of hybrid lines to make use of the effects of heterosis.<unk>  in plants also occurs naturally in the form of self-pollination.<unk>  can significantly influence gene expression which can prevent<unk>  depression.
Inbreeding
Serosorting
Juvenation
Priming 
Coinduction 
Subinvolution
Co-option 
In vitro maturation