Why conserve genetic diversity?
Genetic diversity is essential for continued progress in breeding as well as for adaptation to future environmental challenges. Future environmental challenges include the need to adapt to new pest and disease strains or species, climate change, and pollutants. Maize is the most genetically diverse crop species, and is the most economically important in the U.S. We owe it to future generations to pass on the rich genetic legacy of maize and other crop species largely intact. The Panzea project will catalogue at the genomic scale the genetic diversity present both in maize and in its wild ancestor, teosinte.
