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Evolution made to order : plant breeding and technological innovation in twentieth-century America / Helen Anne Curry.
Author
Curry, Helen Anne
[Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/Created
Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2016.
©2016
Description
x, 285 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Availability
Copies in the Library
Location
Call Number
Status
Location Service
Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks
SB83 .C87 2016
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Details
Subject(s)
Plant mutation breeding
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
Plant mutation breeding
—
Social aspects
—
United States
[Browse]
Plant genetic engineering
—
Genetic engineering
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
Plant genetic engineering
—
Social aspects
—
United States
[Browse]
Summary note
"In 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."--Publisher's description.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-280) and index.
Contents
Mutation theories
An unsolved problem
Speeding up evolution
X-rays in the lab and field
Industrial evolution
Artificial tetraploidy
Evolution to order
Better evolution through chemistry
Tinkering technologists
The flower manufacturers
Radiation revisited
Mutation politics
An atomic-age experiment station
Atomic gardens
The peaceful atom in global agriculture.
Show 12 more Contents items
ISBN
9780226390086 ((cloth ; : alkaline paper))
022639008X ((cloth ; : alkaline paper))
LCCN
2015047402
OCLC
931476568
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
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