New techniques developed at UC Davis could allow breeding of plants with one genetic parent, dramatically speeding up breeding of new crop varieties. (Getty Images) Scientists are a step closer to ...

Applied since the 1930s to accelerate the process of developing and selecting new valuable agronomic traits, mutation breeding uses a plant’s own genetic make-up, mimicking the natural process of ...

Their neatly plotted rows of naturally salt-tolerant plants, known as halophytes, could be a part of the answer. The scientists from the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation are also trying other ...

Why do scientists say that genetic engineering of crops is just the “latest chapter” in 10,000 years of high-tech agriculture? Or that genetic engineering is just a more precise way to breed plants ...

The use of various mutagens to generate genetic variation in crop plants has a history almost as long as that of conventional breeding. Induction of variability by irradiation of barley seeds with ...

The next wave of innovations in crop science may come not from cross-breeding plants or reprogramming their genes but by tweaking the microbes that live in, on and around them. Yes, plants have ...

Scientists are a step closer to breeding plants with genes from only one parent. New research led by plant biologists at UC Davis shows the underlying mechanism behind eliminating half the genome and ...