On: The Open Source Seed Initiative

[djakjxnanjak]

I heard a similar scenario as a plan to kill mosquitoes. I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work but a lot of smart people seem to believe it’s possible.

[bayesian_horse → djakjxnanjak]

Well, at the very least those producing the sterile plants have to keep fertile plants.

There are actually plant lines which are more or less sterile and can't really reproduce sexually any more, because they have been (naturally) cloned.

The point is that modern breeding schemes and technology is necessary to feed the growing world population. There is no margin to reduce agricultural performance. You will feel any loss in performance immediately through price hikes.

[hobofan → djakjxnanjak]

In mosquitoes this works via genes on the sex-chromosomes, so the female ones are unaffected, while the male ones become sterile.

I don't know enough about plant seeds to transfer that, but I guess it's the same principle.