A symposium was hosted 10 to 11 Mar. 2005 at Michigan State University to discuss the future of plant breeding education at public institutions. Plant breeding remains a vibrant, multidisciplinary science characterized by its ability to reinvent itself by absorbing and utilizing novel scientific findings and technical approaches. A contemporary breeding curriculum should include hands-on experi...

The fundamental discoveries of Darwin and Mendel established the scientific basis for plant breeding and genetics at the turn of the 20th century. Similarly, the recent integration of advances in biotechnology, genomic research, and molecular marker applications with conventional plant breeding practices has created the foundation for molecular plant breeding, an interdisciplinary science that ...

1 Plant Breeding Institute, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany, 2 Plant Breeding Institute, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany, Molecular Cell Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany, Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany, Cluster of Excellence in...