European University of Lefke (EUL) Dean of Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies Prof. Dr. Mehmet Atilla Aşkın gave some information on the subject of “Hybrid Seed, Cancer, Infertility: Confusion.”

Hybrid seed is preferred especially in greenhouses

Askin, who shared information about hybrid seed, which has been one of the most discussed topics in the public in recent years, defined the hybrid seed as follows; The new individual (plant) we get when we mate a variety with superior characteristics and another variety with other superior characteristics is a hybrid. So it resembles both mom and dad. Just as we inherit some of our features (characters) from our mother and some from our father. To give an example, when we breed a tomato variety with crimson colour, large, delicious fruits but not resistant to diseases, with another tomato variety that is not flashy but resistant to diseases, some of the individuals we will get will resemble the mother, some will look like the father, and some will look like both the mother and the father. Some of those who resemble both mother and father will carry both the mother’s superior characteristics (crimson coloured, large delicious fruit) and the father’s superior characteristics (resistance to diseases). But when you try to do this job under farmer conditions, you cannot know which seeds have superior characteristics and which seeds resemble mother or father. In this case, a branch of agriculture called breeding (Plant breeding, Animal breeding) became involved. Firstly, the mother is constantly pollinated with her own pollen in order to obtain the gene sequence that carries superior characteristics of the mother, and pure stains are obtained. During this inbreeding process, which lasts 6 or 7 years, individuals showing superior characteristics (colour, hugeness, flavour) are selected each time and these are pollinated with their own pollen. At the end of approximately 7 replications (years), individuals called pure strains are obtained in terms of these selected characters. The same process is done for the superior characteristics of the father.  When pure strain mothers and fathers are obtained, they are mated with each other and hybrid seeds are obtained that will show the superior characteristics of the mother and father, called Hybrid (F1). The fruits of these seeds bear the mother’s superior feature like the crimson coloured, size and flavour and also bears the father’s superior characteristics of being resistant to diseases.

However, when we plant the seeds of these fruits, the seeds show genetic opening and return to the mother and father. Therefore, what I have tried to summarize briefly is that when you want to use these seeds with these features, the seeds have to be purchased every time. However, since the monetary return of the hybrid variety and its market value are usually much higher than the money spent for seeds, these seeds are preferred especially in greenhouses where controlled production is carried out.

Aşkın stated that since the whole process is natural in hybrid seeds obtained by cross- breeding, they do not have any disease risk for humans, adding, “In short, hybrid seeds do not infertility in humans, seeds of hybrid fruit can sometimes be sterile, this feature is used by breeders as a technique. The danger of cancer and infertility is due to uncontrolled use of pesticides (chemicals).