Selective breeding

• What is selective breeding?

  Breeding the best plants or animals together
• Why do humans use selective breeding?

  To produce better offspring with desired traits
• How long have humans been using selective breeding?

  Thousands of years
• What is agriculture?

  A fancy term for farming
• For what traits do we selectively breed cows?

  For meat and milk production
• What types of plants are selectively bred?

  Plants with large or unusual flowers
• What is the first step in selective breeding?

  Selecting individuals with desired characteristics
• What happens after selecting the best plants for breeding?

  They are bred together to produce offspring
• How does selective breeding affect future generations?

  It improves traits over multiple generations
• What does the picture of sweet corn illustrate?

  The change from wild to modern varieties
• What is a drawback of selective breeding?

  It reduces the gene pool of the population
• What is a gene pool?

  The collection of alleles in a population
• What happens to alleles during selective breeding?

  Certain alleles are selected for desired traits
• What is inbreeding?

  Breeding closely related individuals
• Why are some dog breeds prone to health conditions?

  Due to a small gene pool from inbreeding
• What is the risk of a small gene pool?

  Less variation and higher disease susceptibility
• What could happen if a new pathogen infects a crop with a small gene pool?

  The entire crop could be lost at once
• What is the main focus of selective breeding?

  To improve traits in offspring