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Selective Breeding: Unraveling the Methods, Motivations, and Implications

From Parker Do, NewRootsInstitute.org
February 2024

Selective breeding, also known as artificial selection, allows for the passing on of traits deemed desirable by breeders to subsequent generations. Without human interference, populations of plants, animals, and other living organisms reproduce under natural selection where the environment determines which traits are passed down.

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Image from WikimediaCommons

From the juicy kernels on an ear of corn to the floppy ears of the basset hound, plants and animals today look very different from their wild counterparts. This is due to selective breeding, by which humans have altered thousands of plant species and about 40 animal species from their original form over multiple generations. Humans can increase the frequency of desirable traits in future generations of a population by only allowing individuals with those traits to reproduce.

In the pursuit of more efficient or aesthetically pleasing plants and animals, selective breeding has developed over time, integrating with new technology and evolving demands. Selective breeding has resulted in sweeter fruits, plumper chickens, and fluffier puppies, utilizing a broad range of practices and yielding varying outcomes for its subjects.

What is Selective Breeding and How Does it Work?

Selective breeding, also known as artificial selection, allows for the passing on of traits deemed desirable by breeders to subsequent generations. Without human interference, populations of plants, animals, and other living organisms reproduce under natural selection where the environment determines which traits are passed down.

Through natural selection, individuals who are well-suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, leading to offspring that share those well-suited traits. Those who are less suited to the environment are more likely to die before reproducing. This results in the next generation having a higher proportion of individuals with traits suited to the environment compared to their parents’ generation. This cycle repeats over and over through changing environments, resulting in the diversity of life seen today.

Selective breeding uses a similar mechanism of passing on traits, but rather than the environment determining which individuals are “well-suited,” breeders decide. Breeders identify individuals with desired traits and have them reproduce with each other while preventing those without the trait from reproducing. This process yields changes in a population faster than natural selection by greatly reducing the chance that an organism with a desired trait fails to reproduce or the chance one without the trait successfully reproduces. Artificial selection allows humans to dramatically change the appearance, behavior, and health of organisms in just a few generations.

Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE including:

  • What is Selective Breeding and How Does it Work?
  • Are Selectively Bred Plants and Animals GMOs?
  • Why is Selective Breeding Done?
  • Selective Breeding Methods
  • Examples of Selective Breeding
  • The Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
  • Selective Breeding Facts

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