NEW BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR AGRICULTURE: A GENERAL PERSPECTIVE

P. Puigdomènech
The origin and the progress of agriculture have relied since its beginning in the Neolithic era in the application of the best available knowledge. Plant domestication involved the identification of a limited number of plant and animal species and a narrow range of variation within the species that allowed their cultivation. Starting at the end of 18th century the recognition of how important agronomic characters are transmitted gave rise to the science of genetics that was systematically applied during the last century. Recombinant DNA technologies are presently making an important impact in the breeding of new cultivars by the use of marker assisted selection and the use of genetic transgenesis. With the advent of massive sequencing and genotyping we are witnessing the appearance of a new dimension in our knowledge of the genetic and molecular basis of the characters that are important for crop improvement. All these developments are having a large impact in how research is being carried out. We are immersed in a new complexity that exists at the global level with both industrial and social consequences.
Puigdomènech, P. (2011). NEW BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR AGRICULTURE: A GENERAL PERSPECTIVE. Acta Hortic. 916, 25-29
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.916.3
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.916.3
biotechnology, genomics, plant breeding, recombinant DNA technology, genetic transformation
English

Acta Horticulturae