artificial selection

In biology, selective breeding of individuals that exhibit particular characteristics that a plant or animal breeder wishes to develop. In plants, desirable features might include resistance to disease, high yield (in crop plants), or attractive appearance. In animal breeding, selection has led to the development of particular breeds of cattle for improved meat production (such as the Aberdeen Angus) or milk production (such as Holsteins).

Artificial selection was practised by the Sumerians at least 5,500 years ago and carried on through the succeeding ages, with the result that all common vegetables, fruit, and livestock are long modified by selective breeding. Artificial selection, particularly of pigeons, was studied by the English evolutionist Charles Darwin who saw a similarity between this phenomenon and the processes of natural selection.

High-yielding, artificially selected organisms such as beef, cattle, pigs, rice, and wheat often need carefully controlled environments. The increased use of antibiotics and other medicines in animal husbandry, or of pesticides and fertilizers in arable farming, is a controversial consequence of some artificial breeding programs.