19 Interesting Facts
Corn has been genetically modified so much that it wouldn't be able to survive in the wild!
Corn originates from Central America and it’s the number one crop in the United States. The ancient people of Mexico grew maize, or corn, between 4000 and 6000 years ago. They grew the maize from a grass-like plant called teosinte. The original looks really different from corn as we know it today. The “ears” of a teosinte plant hold 8 to 10 hard-shelled seeds while ears of corn contains up to 500 soft kernels.
By selecting seeds from plants with desirable traits, the ancient Mexican farmers turned the hard shell casings inside out and multiplied the kernels into the ears of corn we know and love. Though teosinte and corn look entirely different, their genomes remain very similar. The difference in their genome is only 1200 out of 50,000 genes.
However we've modified it so much, it is now completely human dependent. By that, I mean that it can’t survive out in the wild. In order to make the crop yield more production, grow faster and just be a much better source of food, we've changed it so much that it'd be domed for extinction if we weren't there to take care of it.
