Selective breeding involves choosing individuals with desired characteristics and breeding only them to one another so the next generation will inherit those desirable traits.

An example of selective breeding is the creation of the many breeds of dogs from the ancestral wolves. Some dogs were chosen to be bred for size, creating large breeds or small breeds, while others were chosen to be bred for their temperament or intelligence. Another example could be found in racehorses. The fastest horses are chosen to be bred to one another to create fast offspring, and slow horses are not chosen for breeding. This creates an entire generation of fast horses and much fewer slower horses.

Mutations increase genetic variation.

Mutations introduce new characteristics into the population, which increases genetic variability.

A breeder might induce new mutations in their plants or microorganisms by exposing them to radiation or certain chemicals that affect their DNA.

Animals are not exposed to these sorts of treatments because of ethical concerns, although there are other ways of altering animal genetics that are used.

Many mutations usually have to be induced before beneficial mutations are isolated.

Polyploidy occurs when an organism has more copies of chromosomes than normal.

Plants and animals naturally have two copies of chromosomes. Polyploidy in animals is usually incompatible with life, although some variations of polyploidy exist (such as Down Syndrome, which is caused by the presence of three copies of chromosome 21). In plants, polyploidy is better tolerated and can actually lead to stronger plants or new species being formed.

To grow hybrid sunflowers with red petals and short stem, start by choosing a different flower variety under the same species that has the traits that you are looking for in a flower. In this case, you should look for flowers that have red petals and short stems. Flowers from different species can be used but they must be from the same genus. Once you have found one, cross pollinate by transferring the male pollen of one flower to the other flower’s female reproductive part. This process is called selective breeding. Crossing two flower plants will result to a hybrid flower plant. Once the seeds are harvested from this hybrid, it will show you a flower that has unique characteristics.