ABSTRACT
Man has used artificial selection to exploit and manipulate organisms for thousands of years-between 8000 and 1000 B.C. horses, camels, oxen, and many other species were already domesticated; by 6000 B.C. yeast was used to make beer; by 5000 B.C. plants such as maize, wheat, and rice were bred. Generation of life and reproduction has always been one of the major points of interest for ancient philosophers. One can almost imagine them sitting under a tree, observing nature around them, and trying to understand this mystical process. In 420 B.C. Socrates speculated on why children do not necessarily resemble their parents; by 400 B.C. Hippocrates would propose that males contribute to a child’s character through semen: the idea of heredity was thus established.
