Losses caused by inherited diseases affect not only the breeder's income but also the breeding programs themselves. In Switzerland the cardiomyopathy of cattle and the syndrome of arachnomelia and arthrogryposis are currently being investigated in order to find genetic markers for these diseases. It seems that DNA fingerprinting with multilocus probes is the most efficient approach available at present. Microsatellites analyzed with the polymerase chain reaction technique will provide a usable marker map within the next ten years and will therefore provide a perfect tool to find markers for hereditary diseases.