The History of Wheat: How Humans Tamed Bread
Humans have been growing wheat for over 10,000 years. Today it covers more farmland than rice and corn combined, and the average person eats around 180–190 grammes of it per day. Its success comes from an unusual genetic trick: wheat has more than two sets of chromosomes.
What makes wheat genetically unusual?
Most living things are diploid: they have paired chromosomes, one from each parent. Wheat does not play by those rules. Durum wheat, used for pasta, is tetraploid, with four sets of chromosomes. Soft wheat, used for bread and cakes, is hexaploid, with six. The chromosomes come from several different parent plants, because wheat arose from natural crosses between wild wheat and wild grasses of the Aegilops genus. The extra sets help wheat withstand heat and cold and grow in a wide range of climates.
Key facts
- People have cultivated domesticated wheat for at least 10,000 years.
- The genus Triticum includes about 20 species.
- Soft wheat is hexaploid: it has six sets of chromosomes.
How was wheat domesticated?
The spikelets of wild wheat shatter as they ripen and scatter the grains on the ground. Early people noticed rare plants whose spikelets did not shatter, and began planting those grains on purpose. According to archaeological evidence, people have deliberately cultivated domesticated wheat for at least 10,000 years, with some of the earliest signs in what is now Israel and Palestine. Around 2600 BCE, wheat reached China.
Where can I read the full story?
This is a short version of “How We Tamed Bread” from OYLA 12+, Vol. 8, Issue 8. The full article in OYLA 12+ traces wheat’s family tree, shows the structure of a grain and explains how genetic engineers are making wheat more resistant to disease.
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