Humans have been breeding plants for millennia. Our ancestors began to domesticate plants (and animals) at leastย 10,000 years ago, allowing nomadic tribes to become stationary and form communities as they no longer had to pursue their food.
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The origins of improving plants by selection can beย traced back to about 1700. Perhaps the most famously know botanist wasย Mendel for his 1865ย published research on how plant genetics were passed as traits from one generation to the next. However, it wasnโt until 1900 that his discoveries were widely recognized and adopted.
The main technology used today in plant breeding is known as mutagenesis, which dates back to the 1930s. There are two main forms ofย breeding new lines though mutagenesis: chemical and radiation.
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While theย observed traits from mutagenesis are randomย as a result of their treatment, plants observed with preferable traits are further bred for their seeds and have been the staples of plant breeding for over 80 years ….[I]nstead of random, untargeted effects, scientists [now] can [breed] plants with the precise knowledge of what is being changed allow for the more rapid development of new crop varieties.
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The [European] decision to classify future plant breeding techniques as …. GMO mattersย ….ย Genome editing is a scientific extension of mutagenic technology thatโs been employed in new plant varietyย development for over 80 years. [It] is the future of plant breeding. The question is where and who will be allowed to develop crops using these technologies.
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