1. Usefulness of evolutionary science

2. Corn There are many varieties with different uses

3. Dent (Zea mays indenata): Dent corn is often used as livestock feed, in industrial products, or to make processed foods. Dent corn is also frequently referred to as "field" corn. Either white or yellow, dent kernels contain both hard and soft starch that become indented at maturity. Flint (Zea mays indurata): Flint corn is also known as Indian corn and has a hard outer shell and kernels with a range of colors from white to red. Sweet (Zea saccharata or Zea rugosa): Sweet corn is primarily eaten on the cob. Sweet corn is extra sweet because it contains more natural sugars than other types of corn. Flour (Zea mays amylacea): Flour corn is used in baked goods because it has a soft, starch-filled, kernel that is easy to grind. Flour corn is primarily white, although it can be grown in other colors, for example, blue corn. One of the oldest types of corn, flour corn was a chief type grown by Native Americans. Popcorn (Zea mays everta): Popcorn, a type of flint corn, has a soft starchy center surrounded by a very hard exterior shell. When popcorn is heated the natural moisture inside the kernel turns to steam that builds up enough pressure for the kernel to explode. All types of corn will pop to some degree, but they won't necessarily have enough starch to turn inside out, or an outside layer that will create enough pressure to explode. One of the oldest forms of corn, evidence of popcorn from 3600 B.C. was found in New Mexico! Types of corn

4. The wild plant that gave rise to corn

5. Corn Native Americans were great evolutionists! They made teosinte evolve into dozens of corn varieties. Origin of corn from a wild plant

6. How did Americans change teosinte into corn? Origin of corn from a wild plant

7. Where else in agriculture is understanding evolution important? Insect pests evolve resistance This can be prevented by creating “refugia” Preventing insecticide resistance

8. Drug resistance – an evolutionary adaptation of bacteria Pathogens (bacteria, fungi, parasites) can evolve resistance to antibiotics or other drugs We can prevent this by: – alternating multiple different drugs – in HIV therapy, by taking breaks where no drugs are taken Preventing drug resistance

9. “Evolutionary algorithms” used in engineering Engineers let designs “evolve” in a computer By simulating “mutations” (variation) and reproduction of “successful” (desired) variants Use of evolutionary theory in engineering

10. Genes Each cell contains a complete copy of an organisms genome on a long strand of DNA A “gene” is a section of DNA that gets translated into a protein Proteins make up machines, skeleton, and color of cells  and therefore determine form and function Summary

11. Inheritance Most organisms inherit a set of genes from their father and one from their mother: they have sets two total The two genes for a particular trait may be the same or different alleles (variants). If they are different, one may be dominant over the other (brown over blue eyes). Knowledge of genetics is used in many fields, particularly agriculture and medicine Summary