9781422280454

Modification Methods

The corn we enjoy today was bred 10,000 years ago by farmers in Mexico who began with a grass called teosinte and gradually created corn (maize) over time.

as a gene from an Arctic fish inserted into the genetic material of strawberries to help them grow in cold climates. This is not possible with selective breeding, where parent species must be similar.

M ethods and M utations In traditional selective breeding, scientists or farmers cross-pollinate plants to develop new ones with desirable traits. Sometimes this happens on purpose, such as when a farmer consciously decides to crossbreed two types of apple. Other times it occurs accidentally, such as when the wind carries pollen from one type of plant onto another. This is one way that wheat evolved from wild grasses. Ancient hunter-gatherers in the

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