Sometimes folks are absent from class and miss the slideshow and want to at least see the pictures even if they missed the stories. Well this one is about plant genetics which is a massive topic and of course source of much research in biotechnology, agriculture, and science today. The slideshow is a very basic introduction to the topic for most of us who are either ignorant or confounded by such dense and occasionally inscrutable matters. It will give you a jump off point to appreciate and understand genes and inheritance and why plant breeding is of such tremendous importance.
The slideshow starts off with some examples of non sexual cloning type breeding, then follows with animal hybrids leading to plant hybrids. There are a few pictures about different type of animal breeding strategies and systems. Some plants prefer to outcross, while others are really inbred for stability of traits. We talk about selecting for specific things when breeding like disease or insect resistance or aesthetics or ease of transport and picking. We explain the essence of genes which is DNA in the charming double helices. You have to learn about the haploid, diploid and so on polyploids of chromosomes and the way they divide. We end the lecture with a bit about how GMO works and also its flip side which is regular type breeding that has been honed over millennium to create diverse and locally adapted strains or ‘races’. Talk more about seeds in the next slideshow…
Mission Azul 