Careers in Plant Breeding

Plant breeding is an important discipline, and the foundation of plant genetic improvements.  While modern techniques like gene editing sometimes steal the spotlight, the foundational varieties must have outstanding performance before such amendments are remotely relevant.  Today plant breeders are in high demand, both in industry and academia.  Drs. Patricio Muñoz and Marcio Resende are two early-career plant breeders, working on blueberry and sweetcorn, respectively.  Both implement the most modern genomics approaches to breeding and selection, with an eye on accelerating production of new varieties. As relatively recent graduates, both provide their insights into the preparation necessary to find a fulfilling career in plant breeding.