50 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2017 dent 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 bioinformatics,” LaVigne explains. That brings us to another plant breeding mile- stone, gene editing — the umbrella term for a number of tools and methods. LaVigne says opportunities will come into play, but stresses the importance of new learnings and meth- ods that will emerge and evolve in two years, five years and 10 years. “The domestication of the plant was arguably the single most important technological advance in our history, and allowed us to develop into the highly complex civilization we have become,” says Nino Brown of the University of Georgia’s Institution of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics. “As technologically advanced as we might be, we are still as dependent on plants as we have ever been. It could be argued, that with the current population and rate of growth, we are more dependent on these crops than ever.” According to the United Nations, there were 6.1 billion people on earth in 2000, and that number is PLANT BREEDING INNOVATION EVOLUTION “It’s this relationship between plant genotypes and the environment that will continue to drive genetic improvements for future generations.” — Sam Eathington expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Brown says that’s a lot of mouths to feed, but LaVigne and Monsanto’s Eathington are optimistic. “We are at an amazing time in agriculture right now when it comes to really understanding what plants do, and how we look at characteristics favorable to crop production as it relates to the challenges farmers face with weather, pests and disease,” LaVigne says. “But how do we deal with those not-so-favorable characteristics and minimize those in the breeding process?” That’s the question plant breeders and researchers labor over. “Today, plant breeders still rely on classic methodologies to develop top-performing products,” shares Eathington, adding that modern tech- nologies help optimize the predictability of how certain plants will grow in a variety of environmental conditions. “It’s this relationship between plant genotypes and the environment that will continue to drive genetic improvements for future generations.” SW EXPLORE THE EVOLUTIONS Almost everything we’ve ever eaten has evolved and changed through generations of breeding. Some of the most popular fruits and vegetables originated from plants that would be almost unidentifiable today: Carrots: Originally, carrots were yellow and purple. In the 1600s humans started breeding them to be white and orange, and then in 1700s they were bred to be red. Purple carrots are still grown in Europe and Asia, and red carrots are grown in China and India. Watermelons: 5,000 years ago they were only 2 inches in diameter and tasted bitter. Nothing like the sweet-tasting fruit we eat today. Bananas: About 6,500 years ago humans started breeding Musa acuminate, the banana’s forefather. That plant was crossed with Musa balbisiana and produced plantains, a relative of the modern banana. Corn: About 10,000 years ago humans discovered Teosinte, which was a plant with small, thin “cobs” that were only two or three inches long and had kernels so hard they could crack your teeth. Over thousands of years of selection, Teosinte was adapted to produce the 12-inch ears of today. Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kale: These common vegetables descended from the common Wild Mustard plant about 10,000 years ago. Source: Monsanto.