Information Communication
Technology (ICT) and My Work
Conventional plant breeding,
the concept of the gene, and ICT.
As a plant breeder, I
believe that the gene could be regarded from two standpoints: (i) as a
hypothetical entity by which one could explain the results of breeding
experiments; and (ii) as a chemical compound or molecule.
The first viewpoint fits
the Mendelian concept of the gene whereby principles of heredity are formulated
as simple rules based on unit particles or factors. The nature of these
factors, or whether these factors exist, is irrelevant. For many purposes:
Animal and Plant breeding, the study of human pedigrees and many aspects of
evolution – the Mendelian concept of the gene is sufficient. The impact of ICT
at earlier year were not yet seen because the approach in breeding is at
conventional level.
But geneticists have been concerned with more than
these; there is a need to understand the gene itself, as well as how it
performs its functions. Through ICT, computer-aided statistical tools and
design, available information on the net about the performance per se of
parents and progenies, makes the prediction of ideal plant type at micro/nano
level possible.
