Simple tandem repetitive minisatellite regions of DNA show high level of polymorphism arising from differences in the number of the core sequences of the repeating units. Probes consisting of a core sequence of a minisatellite detect many highly variable DNA fragments (band pattern) by Southern blot hybridisation. Since DNA fingerprinting data are based on information from a large number of independent and biparentally inherited hypervariable loci, this technique enables to obtain much more genetic variation than other molecular techniques. Simultaneous screening of many polymorphic loci in the genome provides valuable information for a number of fields ranging from individual identification and determination of relationship to linkage analysis and population genetics. In this paper some applications of DNA fingerprinting systems to farm animal breeding were reviewed.