The numbers game of soybean breeding in the United States

Abstract

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] represents one of the most essential crops to the world’s economy and food security due to its unique seed composi-tion. Public soybean breeding programs in the United States played an important role in developing the genetic basis of American soybean and discovering many economically important traits. After the passage of the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVP) in 1970 and the authorization to patent living matter in 1980, private companies have dominated the market share of commercial soybean varieties and public breeding programs shifted the efforts towards basic and applied research and education of the next generation of plant breeders. The short history of soybean breeding combined with a very narrow genetic basis derived from few ancestors can only make us reflect on all the innovations yet to be unveiled and the multiple possibilities to explore the unique traits that the golden miracle bean offers.