SEPTEMBER 2017 GERMINATION.CA 43 Around the world, plant breeders such as Norman Borlaug put their newfound knowledge to use, developing more pro- ductive, higher-yielding hybrids across a number of crop species including wheat and rice. The period from the 1940s to the 1960s became known as the Green Revolution, when agricultural output significantly increased, saving billions of people from famine and starvation. Borlaug’s work with wheat in Mexico led the country from only supplying half its needs to being self-suffi- cient. When leaders in Pakistan and India adopted his work, output increased fourfold. Then there’s the discovery of the DNA structure by James Watson and Francis Crick, which helped explain how heredi- tary information is coded and replicated. This was one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century, and helped advance molecular biology to this day. Then scientists began to apply tissue and cell culture technologies to create genetic variability and increase the number of desirable germplasms available to the plant breeder. In 1983, scientists developed the first plants using biotechnology to introduce a trait from nature to help them better survive their environment. Since then, this technology has been used in a number of crops, but not without great controversy. This was followed by marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection. MAS is the indirect selection process where a trait of interest is selected based on a marker linked to a trait of interest. It essentially, minimizes the wait-and-see time, as the plant's DNA is the same when it’s a seed as it is when it’s mature and the fruit is ready for harvest. Genomic selection is a form of MAS in which genetic markers covering the whole genome are used, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. As the sciences and technology progresses, the range of tools available to plant breeders to develop more pro- ductive, higher-yielding varieties expands. Building on a Strong Foundation “Plant breeding is an ongoing practice,” says Andy LaVigne, American Seed Trade Association president and CEO. “It’s an evolving science, whether you go back 10,000 years ago when man was selecting plants that were strong and met the local needs, or all the way back to the 1900s with cross breeding and hybridization and mutation genesis and cell culture. Plant breeding builds upon itself.” He says plant breeders don’t just have a “Eureka” moment and come up with a new way of doing things. “Our understanding develops each year, because we are getting better at mapping genomes and better at bio- informatics,” LaVigne explains. That brings us to another plant breeding milestone, gene editing — the umbrella term for a number of tools and methods. 1940s WHEN NORMAN BORLAUG KICKED OFF THE GREEN REVOLUTION 9.7 BILLION PEOPLE EXPECTED TO INHABIT THE EARTH IN 2050 1859 WHEN GREGOR MENDEL PUBLISHED HIS THEORY OF EVOLUTION