Doubled haploidy

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/doubled-haploidy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific principle?Generation of homozygous diploid plants from haploid cells through induced chromosome doubling
2. What is the related disciplines?Plant biotechnology, genetics, cytogenetics, and agricultural science
3. How do scientists make doubled haploids?Scientists grow special cells called haploid cells from pollen or egg cells, then treat them with chemicals like colchicine that stop the cell from dividing normally. This causes the chromosomes to duplicate, turning the cell into a doubled haploid. The cells are then grown into whole plants.
4. Why is doubled haploidy useful for farmers?Because the plant is already completely homozygous, it takes far less time to develop new crop varieties. Farmers can get new, stronger, or disease‑resistant plants in months instead of years.

Diploid: A cell or organism having two complete sets of chromosomes, one from each parent.
Homozygous: Having identical alleles for a particular gene on both homologous chromosomes.
Anther Culture: A technique in plant tissue culture to produce haploid plants from anthers.