It showed how corn breeding has evolved over the past century, from corn’s wild ancestor teosinte into today’s high-performing hybrids. Bubek explained that the story of corn breeding began thousands of years before modern agriculture. “While the introduction of GMO traits marked a significant turning point in corn breeding,” Bubek said, “innovation has continued well beyond insect resistance and herbicide tolerance.” Looking even further ahead, “Genome editing represents another promising frontier for corn breeding,” he added. From the early days of slow, labor-intensive breeding to today’s advanced genetic technologies, Pioneer corn has come a long way.