Introduction Plant breeding has been practised for thousands of years, since the rudiments of human civilization. It is now discussed worldwide by government institutions. Plant breeding is the purposeful manipulation of plant science in order to create desired genotypes and phenotypes for quest. This manipulation involves either controlled pollination, genetic …

Planet Earth is about 4.55 billion years old. A sense for this achingly long time grew only slowly throughout the nineteenth century as geological and biological inquiry unravelled the pattern and processes of the planet’s natural environment. The 4.55 billion figure derives from the decay of radioactive forms of elements …

Our awareness of current threats to biodiversity and prospects for future survival arises in part because we know of animals and plants that have become extinct in the past. News media feed an appetite for tales of dinosaurs, mammoths, living fossils and missing links. The biodiversity of Earth is not …