Accelerating genetic gain through integrated genomic selection in crop plants.
Edukondalu B, Aswini N, Amaresh, Krishnappa G, Soundharya B
Crop Improvement
The corn, wheat, and rice that make up most of the world's food supply are under growing threat from heat waves, drought, and new diseases — and genomic selection is one of the most powerful tools scientists have to breed crops that can handle those pressures before they hit store shelves.
Plant breeders have long selected the best crops by looking at how they grow, but that process is slow. A newer approach reads thousands of tiny differences in a plant's DNA all at once to predict which ones will produce the most food or survive drought — even before they're fully grown. By pairing this DNA-reading technique with artificial intelligence and advanced sensors, scientists hope to shrink breeding timelines from decades to just a few years.
Key Findings
Global food production must increase by approximately 70% by 2050 to feed a projected population of 9.6 billion people, creating urgent pressure to accelerate crop improvement.
Genomic selection outperforms older marker-assisted selection by capturing the combined effect of thousands of small-effect genetic variants rather than focusing on a handful of major genes, improving prediction accuracy for complex traits like yield and drought tolerance.
Integration of genomic selection with machine learning, high-throughput phenomics, and multi-omics data is enabling faster breeding cycles and the development of climate-resilient cultivars.
chevron_right Technical Summary
This review examines how genomic selection — a technique that reads thousands of genetic markers across a crop's DNA to predict which plants will perform best — can be combined with AI and advanced sensing tools to dramatically speed up breeding of high-yielding, climate-resilient crops. The authors argue this approach can help meet the projected 70% increase in food demand needed by 2050.
Abstract Preview
Meeting the projected 70% rise in agricultural output by 2050 to sustain a global population of 9.6 billion poses a formidable challenge amid intensifying biotic and abiotic stresses. Traditional b...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Chloroplast Genome Editing Eliminates Gluten Immunogenicity in Triticum aestivum
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...