Selective breeding

Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use <a href="/facts/Animal_breeding/a9VgVI2I">animal breeding</a> and <a href="/facts/Plant_breeding/GFlyFbSK">plant breeding</a> to <a href="/facts/Selection_(biology)/JXTte6en">selectively</a> develop particular <a href="/facts/Phenotypic_trait/seYSUTul">phenotypic traits</a> (characteristics) by choosing which typically <a href="/facts/Animal/4b8J33nd">animal</a> or <a href="/facts/Plant/X5BMDMvS">plant</a> males and females will <a href="/facts/Sexual_reproduction/hmsXy53s">sexually reproduce</a> and have <a href="/facts/Offspring/v7LD4qBl">offspring</a> together. <a href="/facts/Domestication/tWB5s52s">Domesticated</a> animals are known as <a href="/facts/Breed/PlMHRQqT">breeds</a>, normally bred by a professional <a href="/facts/Breeder/laECne4b">breeder</a>, while domesticated plants are known as <a href="/facts/Variety_(botany)/r3qRdjVt">varieties</a>, <a href="/facts/Cultigen/F0CenwyF">cultigens</a>, <a href="/facts/Cultivar/nfaLJJM3">cultivars</a>, or breeds. Two purebred animals of different breeds produce a <a href="/facts/Crossbreed/VDRf1JWq">crossbreed</a>, and crossbred plants are called <a href="/facts/Hybrid_(biology)/pzVJ54xU">hybrids</a>. Flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees may be bred by amateurs and commercial or non-commercial professionals: major crops are usually the provenance of the professionals.
In <a href="/facts/Animal_breeding/a9VgVI2I">animal breeding</a> artificial selection is often combined with techniques such as <a href="/facts/Inbreeding/KRoRX08G">inbreeding</a>, <a href="/facts/Linebreeding/KRoRX08G">linebreeding</a>, and <a href="/facts/Outcrossing/6sAJ4Gh7">outcrossing</a>. In <a href="/facts/Plant_breeding/GFlyFbSK">plant breeding</a>, similar methods are used. <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a> discussed how selective breeding had been successful in producing change over time in his 1859 book, <a href="/facts/On_the_Origin_of_Species/zTMxkKVY">On the Origin of Species</a>. Its first chapter discusses selective breeding and <a href="/facts/Domestication/tWB5s52s">domestication</a> of such animals as <a href="/facts/Pigeon/HXY1GUHj">pigeons</a>, <a href="/facts/Cat/82d0y6D5">cats</a>, <a href="/facts/Cattle/44qV9B6S">cattle</a>, and <a href="/facts/Dog/DvQVRVzy">dogs</a>. Darwin used artificial selection as an <a href="/facts/Analogy/LYcGaTdm">analogy</a> to propose and explain the theory of <a href="/facts/Natural_selection/JXTte6en">natural selection</a> but distinguished the latter from the former as a separate process that is non-directed.
The deliberate exploitation of selective breeding to produce desired results has become very common in agriculture and experimental biology.
Selective breeding can be unintentional, for example, resulting from the process of human cultivation; and it may also produce unintended – desirable or undesirable – results. For example, in some grains, an increase in seed size may have resulted from certain ploughing practices rather than from the intentional selection of larger seeds. Most likely, there has been an interdependence between natural and artificial factors that have resulted in plant domestication.

Selective breeding open-in-new

Selective breeding