Ebook Plant breeding and biotechnology societal context and the future of agriculture part 1. This page intentionally left blank PLANT BREEDING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Societal Context and the Future of Agriculture This accessible survey of modern plant breedin.Ebook Plant breeding and biotechnology societal context and the future of agriculture part 1
This page intentionally left blank PLANT BREEDING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Societal Context and the Future of Agriculture This accessible survey of modern plant breeding traces its history from the earliest experiments at the dawn of the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century to the present day and the existence of high-tech agribusiness Denis Murphy tells the story from the perspective of a scientist working in this field, offering a rational and evidencebased insight into its development Crop improvement is examined from both a scientific and socio-economic perspective, and the ways in which these factors interact and impact on agricultural development are discussed In conclusion, some concerns over the future of plant breeding are highlighted, as well as potential options to enable us to meet the challenges of feeding the world in the twenty-first century This thoroughly interdisciplinary and balanced account will serve as an essential resource for everyone involved with plant breeding research, policy and funding, as well as those wishing to engage with current debates about agriculture and its future Denis J Mu r p h y is Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Glamorgan, UK His career in plant biotechnology research spans three decades, including ten years on the management team of the John Innes Centre, arguably Europe’s premier research centre in plant science He is currently highly involved with the ongoing debate on genetically modified food and crops, both locally and internationally, providing expertise and advice to numerous organisations and government agencies, as well as engaging with the general public and the media Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Societal Context and the Future of Agriculture DENIS J MURPHY University of Glamorgan CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521823890 © D J Murphy 2007 This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2007 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 978-0-511-34280-6 ISBN-10 0-511-34280-2 eBook (NetLibrary) hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-82389-0 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-82389-7 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate In the frozen midwinter of 1941–1942, the great metropolis of Leningrad began its epic 900-day siege by the encircling German army Throughout the ruined city, thousands of people were dying of cold, starvation, and shellfire In the world’s oldest seed bank, at the Institute of Plant Industry, a dedicated team of breeders and curators sought to guard and preserve their priceless samples for posterity This collection of over 160 000 plant varieties had been set up in the 1920s by Nikolai Vavilov, the doyen of twentieth century plant breeding Hardly any food reached the biologists as they maintained their protective vigil One by one, they succumbed to starvation, surrounded by bags of edible seeds and tubers The oats curator L M Rodina died, as did rice curator D S Ivanov, and peanut curator A G Shtchukin, and seven more of their heroic colleagues, one of whom even expired at his desk, working until the end When the city was eventually liberated in January 1944, the entire collection was intact It has since been used to supply new edible plant varieties to millions of people around the world This book is dedicated to all the many heroes of plant breeding, both past and present, including: Norman Borlaug, Robert Carsky, Charles Darwin, Thomas Fairchild, Jack Harlan, Monkombu Swaminathan, Nikolai Vavilov, those brave workers from Leningrad and from other more recently threatened seed banks in Asia and Africa; and, of course, the untold generations of anonymous farmer-breeders, most of whom were women It is to you that we truly owe our daily bread Contents Preface Acknowledgements Using this book Nomenclature and terminology Abbreviations and glossary page xv xvii xviii xix xx Introduction Part I The science of plant breeding Origins of plant breeding Introduction – the development of agriculture Non-intentional selection Variation and selection in breeding Figure Pre-scientific empirical breeding Scientific breeding Beginnings of practical scientific breeding Hybrids Mutations Quantitative genetics 9 10 12 15 16 17 17 17 19 21 Creating new genetic variation Introduction Hybrid crops 23 23 24 vii viii Contents Maize and other intraspecific hybrids Intergenic hybrids – triticale, a new manmade crop species Induced mutagenesis Radiation and chemical mutagenesis Somaclonal mutagenesis Mutagenesis – an acceptable technology for genetic manipulation? Wide crossing Wide crosses in rice Wide crosses in brassicas 24 28 29 29 31 Modern high-tech breeding Introduction Tissue culture technologies Chromosome doubling Mass propagation Somatic hybridisation Haploids and doubled haploids Sterile plant varieties Transgenesis Comparison with other technologies for variation enhancement Screening and selection Selecting non-visible traits DNA marker-assisted selection (MAS) New technologies for high-tech breeding 38 38 39 39 41 42 44 45 46 47 49 49 51 53 Part II The societal context of plant breeding Rise of the public sector and the US pioneers Introduction New technologies, old problems Agricultural research as a public good Emergence of public sector research in the USA Morrill and the land grant institutions The USDA and its botanisers Extension services 32 33 34 35 57 59 59 60 62 63 65 68 71 ... liaisons – partnerships with the private sector The penny drops 13 7 13 7 13 7 13 8 14 0 14 0 14 2 14 6 14 9 Part IV 15 5 The agbiotech paradigm 11 Agbiotech: genes and dreams Introduction The artificial... – the worst of all possible worlds? A headless chicken? Rise and fall of the ‘life-sciences’ biotech business model Domination by the ‘big four’ 15 7 15 7 16 0 16 0 16 3 16 4 16 5 16 7 16 8 16 9 17 2 17 3... sustainability Expanding the area of crop cultivation Reclaiming abandoned and set-aside land South America 213 213 215 216 217 219 2 21 222 xii Contents 15 The roles of management, subsidies and breeding