Developments in Mutation Assisted Plant Breeding - NTR2009 Supplement

Spontaneous mutation, the naturally occurring heritable change to genetic material which played a pivotal role in biological evolution and formed the basis for speciation and domestication of both crops and animals, can be artificially induced and supports the maintenance of biodiversity. Since the discovery of X-ray and other forms of radiation at the end of the 19th century and the ensuing demonstration of the ability of these forms of nuclear energy to alter genetic material, scientists have routinely used different types of ionizing radiation to create variants of crops [I-1].