- Genetics, study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. Genetics forms one of the central pillars of biology and overlaps with many other areas, such as agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.
- Graduate students in the Field of Plant Breeding & Genetics. Developing a spectral data analysis pipeline for quality trait prediction in cassava and using transcriptomics to study the genetic control of nutritional quality in sweet corn.
- Genetic Breeding Definition
- See Full List On Azolifesciences.com
- All Genetics And Genomics Content
- Plant Genetics And Breeding Pdf
Genetics definition is - a branch of biology that deals with the heredity and variation of organisms.
- Historical background
- How the gene idea became reality
- Areas of study
- Methods in genetics
- Applied genetics
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work!Genetics, study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. Genetics forms one of the central pillars of biology and overlaps with many other areas, such as agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.
Genetic Breeding Definition
What is genetics?
Genetics is the study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. Genetics forms one of the central pillars of biology and overlaps with many other areas, such as agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.
Is intelligence genetic?
Intelligence is a very complex human trait, the genetics of which has been a subject of controversy for some time. Even roughly measured via diverse cognitive tests, intelligence shows a strong contribution from the environment.
How is genetic testing done?
Genetic testing typically is issued only after a medical history, a physical examination, and the construction of a family pedigree documenting familial genetic diseases have been considered. The genetic tests themselves are carried out using chemical, radiological, histopathologic, and electrodiagnostic procedures. Genetic testing may involve cytogenetic analyses to investigate chromosomes, molecular assays to investigate genes and DNA, or biochemical assays to investigate enzymes, hormones, or amino acids.
Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has recognized the influence of heredity and applied its principles to the improvement of cultivated crops and domestic animals. A Babylonian tablet more than 6,000 years old, for example, shows pedigrees of horses and indicates possible inherited characteristics. Other old carvings show cross-pollination of date palm trees. Most of the mechanisms of heredity, however, remained a mystery until the 19th century, when genetics as a systematic science began.
Genetics arose out of the identification of genes, the fundamental units responsible for heredity. Genetics may be defined as the study of genes at all levels, including the ways in which they act in the cell and the ways in which they are transmitted from parents to offspring. Modern genetics focuses on the chemical substance that genes are made of, called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, and the ways in which it affects the chemical reactions that constitute the living processes within the cell. Gene action depends on interaction with the environment. Green plants, for example, have genes containing the information necessary to synthesize the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll that gives them their green colour. Chlorophyll is synthesized in an environment containing light because the gene for chlorophyll is expressed only when it interacts with light. If a plant is placed in a dark environment, chlorophyll synthesis stops because the gene is no longer expressed.
Genetics as a scientific discipline stemmed from the work of Gregor Mendel in the middle of the 19th century. Mendel suspected that traits were inherited as discrete units, and, although he knew nothing of the physical or chemical nature of genes at the time, his units became the basis for the development of the present understanding of heredity. All present research in genetics can be traced back to Mendel's discovery of the laws governing the inheritance of traits. The word genetics was introduced in 1905 by English biologist William Bateson, who was one of the discoverers of Mendel's work and who became a champion of Mendel's principles of inheritance.
Historical background
Ancient theories of pangenesis and blood in heredity
Although scientific evidence for patterns of genetic inheritance did not appear until Mendel's work, history shows that humankind must have been interested in heredity long before the dawn of civilization. Curiosity must first have been based on human family resemblances, such as similarity in body structure, voice, gait, and gestures. Such notions were instrumental in the establishment of family and royal dynasties. Early nomadic tribes were interested in the qualities of the animals that they herded and domesticated and, undoubtedly, bred selectively. The first human settlements that practiced farming appear to have selected crop plants with favourable qualities. Ancient tomb paintings show racehorse breeding pedigrees containing clear depictions of the inheritance of several distinct physical traits in the horses. Despite this interest, the first recorded speculations on heredity did not exist until the time of the ancient Greeks; some aspects of their ideas are still considered relevant today.
Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 375 bce), known as the father of medicine, believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and, to account for this, he devised the hypothesis known as pangenesis. He postulated that all organs of the body of a parent gave off invisible 'seeds,' which were like miniaturized building components and were transmitted during sexual intercourse, reassembling themselves in the mother's womb to form a baby.
Aristotle (384–322 bce) emphasized the importance of blood in heredity. He thought that the blood supplied generative material for building all parts of the adult body, and he reasoned that blood was the basis for passing on this generative power to the next generation. In fact, he believed that the male's semen was purified blood and that a woman's menstrual blood was her equivalent of semen. These male and female contributions united in the womb to produce a baby. The blood contained some type of hereditary essences, but he believed that the baby would develop under the influence of these essences, rather than being built from the essences themselves.
Aristotle's ideas about the role of blood in procreation were probably the origin of the still prevalent notion that somehow the blood is involved in heredity. Today people still speak of certain traits as being 'in the blood' and of 'blood lines' and 'blood ties.' The Greek model of inheritance, in which a teeming multitude of substances was invoked, differed from that of the Mendelian model. Mendel's idea was that distinct differences between individuals are determined by differences in single yet powerful hereditary factors. These single hereditary factors were identified as genes. Copies of genes are transmitted through sperm and egg and guide the development of the offspring. Genes are also responsible for reproducing the distinct features of both parents that are visible in their children.
Preformation and natural selection
In the two millennia between the lives of Aristotle and Mendel, few new ideas were recorded on the nature of heredity. In the 17th and 18th centuries the idea of preformation was introduced. Scientists using the newly developed microscopes imagined that they could see miniature replicas of human beings inside sperm heads. French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck invoked the idea of 'the inheritance of acquired characters,' not as an explanation for heredity but as a model for evolution. He lived at a time when the fixity of species was taken for granted, yet he maintained that this fixity was only found in a constant environment. He enunciated the law of use and disuse, which states that when certain organs become specially developed as a result of some environmental need, then that state of development is hereditary and can be passed on to progeny. He believed that in this way, over many generations, giraffes could arise from deerlike animals that had to keep stretching their necks to reach high leaves on trees.
British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace originally postulated the theory of evolution by natural selection. However, Charles Darwin's observations during his circumnavigation of the globe aboard the HMS Beagle (1831–36) provided evidence for natural selection and his suggestion that humans and animals shared a common ancestry. Many scientists at the time believed in a hereditary mechanism that was a version of the ancient Greek idea of pangenesis, and Darwin's ideas did not appear to fit with the theory of heredity that sprang from the experiments of Mendel.
- key people
- related topics
- Course Schedule - updated July, 2020
Master's Program Coursework
Degree Program Requirements
M.S. students must have 30 credit hours to graduate comprised of:
21 hours of coursework, 12 of which are graduate level courses only (not from split undergraduate/graduate courses, e.g., 4100/6100). On the Program of Study form, please use * to designate 6000/7000 courses open only to graduate students.
9 hours of research (6) and thesis writing (3)
The following courses are required for graduation:
- one course of Research Seminar (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8861)
- one course of Plant Breeding (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6140)
- one course of Plant Breeding Practicum (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6000)
- one Statistics course (STAT 6315 or FANR 6750 or higher)
M.S. students can only transfer 6 graduate course credits from another institution. No more than 6 hours of research (PBGG 7000) will be counted as hours on your program of study.
Core Courses
A list of our core courses are below along with suggested electives. Students will work with their Major Professor and Advisory Committee to determine the best program of study.
Plant Breeding Courses:
Genetics and Cytogenetics Courses:
Plants and Their Environment Courses:
- PATH 6280-6280L. Diagnosis and Management of Plant Diseases
Biometry and Bioinformatics Courses:
- STAT 6230. Applied Regression Analysis
- STAT 6315. Statistical Methods for Researchers
Biochemical and Molecular Genetics Courses:
Electives for professional development:
- ALDR 7350. Group, Team, and Organizational Development in Agricultural Organizations
- PBIO(PBGG) 8020. Essential skills for graduate students
- 2 Classes in August & Classes from October till end of semester
Ph.D. Program Requirements
Ph.D. (M.S. already earned) – students must have 30 credit hoursto graduate comprised of:
Aboutbackstage. 16 hours of coursework (a minimum of 16 hours of 8000-9000 level credits) excluding 9000/9005/9300
3 hours of dissertation writing (9300)
6 hours of research (PBGG 9000) and the remainder in research or relevant lower level courses
The following courses are required for graduation:
- two credits of Graduate Seminar (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8860 & PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8861)
- Advanced Plant Breeding (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8140)
- Plant Breeding Practicum (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6000)
- Plant Genetics (PBIO 8100 or PBGG 8890 or comparable)
- Statistics (PBGG 8010 or STAT 8200 or comparable)
Ph.D. students can only transfer 9 graduate course credits from another institution after beginning at UGA.
See Full List On Azolifesciences.com
Straight Ph.D. (no M.S. required) – students must have 36 credit hoursto graduate comprised of:
27 hours of coursework (a minimum of 16 hours of 8000-9000 level credits), and including MS/PhD requirements
9 hours (minimum) of research (6h) and writing(3h)
The following courses are required for graduation:
All Genetics And Genomics Content
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work!Genetics, study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. Genetics forms one of the central pillars of biology and overlaps with many other areas, such as agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.
Genetic Breeding Definition
What is genetics?
Genetics is the study of heredity in general and of genes in particular. Genetics forms one of the central pillars of biology and overlaps with many other areas, such as agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.
Is intelligence genetic?
Intelligence is a very complex human trait, the genetics of which has been a subject of controversy for some time. Even roughly measured via diverse cognitive tests, intelligence shows a strong contribution from the environment.
How is genetic testing done?
Genetic testing typically is issued only after a medical history, a physical examination, and the construction of a family pedigree documenting familial genetic diseases have been considered. The genetic tests themselves are carried out using chemical, radiological, histopathologic, and electrodiagnostic procedures. Genetic testing may involve cytogenetic analyses to investigate chromosomes, molecular assays to investigate genes and DNA, or biochemical assays to investigate enzymes, hormones, or amino acids.
Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has recognized the influence of heredity and applied its principles to the improvement of cultivated crops and domestic animals. A Babylonian tablet more than 6,000 years old, for example, shows pedigrees of horses and indicates possible inherited characteristics. Other old carvings show cross-pollination of date palm trees. Most of the mechanisms of heredity, however, remained a mystery until the 19th century, when genetics as a systematic science began.
Genetics arose out of the identification of genes, the fundamental units responsible for heredity. Genetics may be defined as the study of genes at all levels, including the ways in which they act in the cell and the ways in which they are transmitted from parents to offspring. Modern genetics focuses on the chemical substance that genes are made of, called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, and the ways in which it affects the chemical reactions that constitute the living processes within the cell. Gene action depends on interaction with the environment. Green plants, for example, have genes containing the information necessary to synthesize the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll that gives them their green colour. Chlorophyll is synthesized in an environment containing light because the gene for chlorophyll is expressed only when it interacts with light. If a plant is placed in a dark environment, chlorophyll synthesis stops because the gene is no longer expressed.
Genetics as a scientific discipline stemmed from the work of Gregor Mendel in the middle of the 19th century. Mendel suspected that traits were inherited as discrete units, and, although he knew nothing of the physical or chemical nature of genes at the time, his units became the basis for the development of the present understanding of heredity. All present research in genetics can be traced back to Mendel's discovery of the laws governing the inheritance of traits. The word genetics was introduced in 1905 by English biologist William Bateson, who was one of the discoverers of Mendel's work and who became a champion of Mendel's principles of inheritance.
Historical background
Ancient theories of pangenesis and blood in heredity
Although scientific evidence for patterns of genetic inheritance did not appear until Mendel's work, history shows that humankind must have been interested in heredity long before the dawn of civilization. Curiosity must first have been based on human family resemblances, such as similarity in body structure, voice, gait, and gestures. Such notions were instrumental in the establishment of family and royal dynasties. Early nomadic tribes were interested in the qualities of the animals that they herded and domesticated and, undoubtedly, bred selectively. The first human settlements that practiced farming appear to have selected crop plants with favourable qualities. Ancient tomb paintings show racehorse breeding pedigrees containing clear depictions of the inheritance of several distinct physical traits in the horses. Despite this interest, the first recorded speculations on heredity did not exist until the time of the ancient Greeks; some aspects of their ideas are still considered relevant today.
Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 375 bce), known as the father of medicine, believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and, to account for this, he devised the hypothesis known as pangenesis. He postulated that all organs of the body of a parent gave off invisible 'seeds,' which were like miniaturized building components and were transmitted during sexual intercourse, reassembling themselves in the mother's womb to form a baby.
Aristotle (384–322 bce) emphasized the importance of blood in heredity. He thought that the blood supplied generative material for building all parts of the adult body, and he reasoned that blood was the basis for passing on this generative power to the next generation. In fact, he believed that the male's semen was purified blood and that a woman's menstrual blood was her equivalent of semen. These male and female contributions united in the womb to produce a baby. The blood contained some type of hereditary essences, but he believed that the baby would develop under the influence of these essences, rather than being built from the essences themselves.
Aristotle's ideas about the role of blood in procreation were probably the origin of the still prevalent notion that somehow the blood is involved in heredity. Today people still speak of certain traits as being 'in the blood' and of 'blood lines' and 'blood ties.' The Greek model of inheritance, in which a teeming multitude of substances was invoked, differed from that of the Mendelian model. Mendel's idea was that distinct differences between individuals are determined by differences in single yet powerful hereditary factors. These single hereditary factors were identified as genes. Copies of genes are transmitted through sperm and egg and guide the development of the offspring. Genes are also responsible for reproducing the distinct features of both parents that are visible in their children.
Preformation and natural selection
In the two millennia between the lives of Aristotle and Mendel, few new ideas were recorded on the nature of heredity. In the 17th and 18th centuries the idea of preformation was introduced. Scientists using the newly developed microscopes imagined that they could see miniature replicas of human beings inside sperm heads. French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck invoked the idea of 'the inheritance of acquired characters,' not as an explanation for heredity but as a model for evolution. He lived at a time when the fixity of species was taken for granted, yet he maintained that this fixity was only found in a constant environment. He enunciated the law of use and disuse, which states that when certain organs become specially developed as a result of some environmental need, then that state of development is hereditary and can be passed on to progeny. He believed that in this way, over many generations, giraffes could arise from deerlike animals that had to keep stretching their necks to reach high leaves on trees.
British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace originally postulated the theory of evolution by natural selection. However, Charles Darwin's observations during his circumnavigation of the globe aboard the HMS Beagle (1831–36) provided evidence for natural selection and his suggestion that humans and animals shared a common ancestry. Many scientists at the time believed in a hereditary mechanism that was a version of the ancient Greek idea of pangenesis, and Darwin's ideas did not appear to fit with the theory of heredity that sprang from the experiments of Mendel.
- key people
- related topics
- Course Schedule - updated July, 2020
Master's Program Coursework
Degree Program Requirements
M.S. students must have 30 credit hours to graduate comprised of:
21 hours of coursework, 12 of which are graduate level courses only (not from split undergraduate/graduate courses, e.g., 4100/6100). On the Program of Study form, please use * to designate 6000/7000 courses open only to graduate students.
9 hours of research (6) and thesis writing (3)
The following courses are required for graduation:
- one course of Research Seminar (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8861)
- one course of Plant Breeding (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6140)
- one course of Plant Breeding Practicum (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6000)
- one Statistics course (STAT 6315 or FANR 6750 or higher)
M.S. students can only transfer 6 graduate course credits from another institution. No more than 6 hours of research (PBGG 7000) will be counted as hours on your program of study.
Core Courses
A list of our core courses are below along with suggested electives. Students will work with their Major Professor and Advisory Committee to determine the best program of study.
Plant Breeding Courses:
Genetics and Cytogenetics Courses:
Plants and Their Environment Courses:
- PATH 6280-6280L. Diagnosis and Management of Plant Diseases
Biometry and Bioinformatics Courses:
- STAT 6230. Applied Regression Analysis
- STAT 6315. Statistical Methods for Researchers
Biochemical and Molecular Genetics Courses:
Electives for professional development:
- ALDR 7350. Group, Team, and Organizational Development in Agricultural Organizations
- PBIO(PBGG) 8020. Essential skills for graduate students
- 2 Classes in August & Classes from October till end of semester
Ph.D. Program Requirements
Ph.D. (M.S. already earned) – students must have 30 credit hoursto graduate comprised of:
Aboutbackstage. 16 hours of coursework (a minimum of 16 hours of 8000-9000 level credits) excluding 9000/9005/9300
3 hours of dissertation writing (9300)
6 hours of research (PBGG 9000) and the remainder in research or relevant lower level courses
The following courses are required for graduation:
- two credits of Graduate Seminar (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8860 & PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8861)
- Advanced Plant Breeding (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8140)
- Plant Breeding Practicum (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6000)
- Plant Genetics (PBIO 8100 or PBGG 8890 or comparable)
- Statistics (PBGG 8010 or STAT 8200 or comparable)
Ph.D. students can only transfer 9 graduate course credits from another institution after beginning at UGA.
See Full List On Azolifesciences.com
Straight Ph.D. (no M.S. required) – students must have 36 credit hoursto graduate comprised of:
27 hours of coursework (a minimum of 16 hours of 8000-9000 level credits), and including MS/PhD requirements
9 hours (minimum) of research (6h) and writing(3h)
The following courses are required for graduation:
All Genetics And Genomics Content
- two credits of Graduate Seminar (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8860 & PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8861)
- Plant Breeding (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6140)
- Plant Breeding Practicum (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 6000)
- Advanced Plant Breeding (PBGG/CRSS/HORT 8140)
- Plant Genetics (PBIO 8100 or PBGG 8890 or comparable)
- Statistics (STAT6220 or STAT 6315 or FANR 6750 or higher)
- Statistics (PBGG 8010 or STAT 8200 or comparable)
Core Courses
A list of our core courses are below along with suggested electives. Students will work with their Major Professor and Advisory Committee to determine the best program of study.
Plant Breeding Courses:
- PBGG (CRSS) (HORT) (PBIO) 8871. Genome Analysis and Comparative Mapping
- Weeks 6-10 Spring Semester Even Years
- PBGG (CRSS) (HORT) (PBIO) 8872. QTL Mapping and Discovery
- Weeks 11-15 Spring Semester Even Years
- PBGG (CRSS) (HORT) 8873. Transgenic Breeding
- Weeks 1-5 Fall Semester Odd Years
Genetics and Cytogenetics Courses:
Plants and Their Environment Courses:
Biometry and Bioinformatics Courses:
Biochemical and Molecular Genetics Courses:
Electives for professional development:
Plant Genetics And Breeding Pdf
- ALDR 7350. Group, Team, and Organizational Development in Agricultural Organizations
- GRSC 8550. Responsible Conduct of Research
- PBIO(PBGG) 8020. Essential skills for graduate students
- 2 Classes in August & Classes from October till end of semester
