Biotechnology in the Maintenance and Use of Crop Genetic Diversity

Recent years have seen an explosive growth in our understanding of heredity and in the tools we have to manipulate it to meet human needs and aspirations. Yet we live in an age in which more than 800 million people go hungry and species are becoming extinct at a faster rate than at any other time in human history. This paper attempts to explore some of the issues involved in the interrelationship between biotechnology, biodiversity, and sustainable agricultural production. It concentrates, in particular, on the implications of new biotechnologies for plant breeding and crop genetic diversity and indicates ways we can use the tools of biotechnology to help alleviate poverty, increase food security, and conserve the world’s biological heritage.