Article

Since the 1960's, genetic conservation of major crops has been based mainly on stati c ex si/u conservation. Whatever their efficiency, genebanks cannot solve the problem of the ' evolutionary freezing' of stored genetic resources. This paper presents one answer, based on the conservation of artificial genetically heterogeneous populations. Some results are presented on the adaptation of populations and the conservation of genetic variability obtained in a pilot programme of dynamic conservation of genetic resources of wheat. Although this experiment concerns a cultivated species, lessons are drawn that could be of interest for conservation experiments on wild species.