How genetic

engineering changed
corn
Over the ages
scientists and farmers
bred crops to create more
desirable traits like size
and taste. Fruits and
vegetables were genetic
engineered to help the
world’s growing demand
for food. Modern corn also
called maize, contains
genetic materials that
have been artificially
altered to produce desired
characteristics. We can see at the image how corn drastically changed in the last 9,000
years through sleuthing by geneticists, botanists, and archaeologists.
The early Mesoamericans managed to develop corn from its grassy ancestor by
selective breeding. Maize was bred from a wild grain called teosinte. Early farmers
would examine their plants and save the seeds of those that were lager or tastier, or
whose kernels were easy to grind. By 4000 BC , cobs were already an inch long. Within
just a few thousand years, cobs had grown to many times that size. Later on, plant
hybridization became an important breeding method to further cultivate certain traits.
Nowadays, corn is grown all over the planet, and humans are still making
changes using more advanced breeding techniques. In the 1980s, for instance, seed
companies turned to genetic engineering-so, for instance, scientists inserted genes from
Bt soil bacteria into corn to help the plant ward off pests. And some researchers are
hoping to develop corn varieties that can withstand drought.