04111nam 22005775 450 991104667680332120230126214622.09780226390116022639011X10.7208/9780226390116(CKB)3710000000868736(MiAaPQ)EBC4520146(StDuBDS)EDZ0001578625(DE-B1597)523214(OCoLC)959554515(DE-B1597)9780226390116(Perlego)1851537(EXLCZ)99371000000086873620200424h20162016 fg engurcnu||||||||rdacontentrdamediardacarrierEvolution Made to Order Plant Breeding and Technological Innovation in Twentieth-Century America /Helen Anne CurryChicago : University of Chicago Press, [2016]©20161 online resource (296 pages)Previously issued in print: 2016.9780226390086 022639008X Includes bibliographical references and index.Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Introduction -- 1. Mutation Theories -- 2. An Unsolved Problem -- 3. Speeding Up Evolution -- 4. X- rays in the Lab and Field -- 5. Industrial Evolution -- Introduction -- 6. Artificial Tetraploidy -- 7. Evolution to Order -- 8. Better Evolution through Chemistry -- 9. Tinkering Technologists -- 10. The Flower Manufacturers -- Introduction -- 11. Radiation Revisited -- 12. Mutation Politics -- 13. An Atomic- Age Experiment Station -- 14. Atomic Gardens -- 15. The Peaceful Atom in Global Agriculture -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- IndexIn the mid-twentieth century, American plant breeders, frustrated by their dependence on natural variation in creating new crops and flowers, eagerly sought technologies that could extend human control over nature. Their search led them to celebrate a series of strange tools: an x-ray beam directed at dormant seeds, a drop of chromosome-altering colchicine on a flower bud, and a piece of radioactive cobalt in a field of growing crops. According to scientific and popular reports of the time, these mutation-inducing methods would generate variation on demand, in turn allowing breeders to genetically engineer crops and flowers to order. Creating a new crop or flower would soon be as straightforward as innovating any other modern industrial product. In Evolution Made to Order, Helen Anne Curry traces the history of America's pursuit of tools that could speed up evolution. It is an immersive journey through the scientific and social worlds of midcentury genetics and plant breeding and a compelling exploration of American cultures of innovation. As Curry reveals, the creation of genetic technologies was deeply entangled with other areas of technological innovation-from electromechanical to chemical to nuclear. An important study of biological research and innovation in America, Evolution Made to Order provides vital historical context for current worldwide ethical and policy debates over genetic engineering. Plant mutation breedingUnited StatesHistory20th centuryPlant mutation breedingSocial aspectsUnited StatesPlant genetic engineeringGenetic engineeringUnited StatesHistory20th centuryPlant genetic engineeringSocial aspectsUnited StatesPlant mutation breedingHistoryPlant mutation breedingSocial aspectsPlant genetic engineeringGenetic engineeringHistoryPlant genetic engineeringSocial aspects631.5233WG 9300rvkCurry Helen Anne, authttp://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut1862787DE-B1597DE-B1597BOOK9911046676803321Evolution Made to Order4469080UNINA