There are numerous cultivars (types) of strawberries available today, propagated by both runners and seeds. Each type is unique with its own advantageous and disadvantageous features; there is a suitable variety for almost all conditions, but none are completely efficient. Many of the cultivars commonly grown today are the result of selective breeding by researchers, and new cultivars continue to be developed.
Methods of Development:
Although modern technology can assist with growing, raising, and testing the new varieties, strawberry breeding remains almost unchanged. To create new cultivars, existing varieties are crossbred. The new plants must then be examined and tested over a period of two to three years, in order to determine whether they are suitable for commercial use. When a new variety is ready for the market, it must be reproduced on a mass scale to fill the fields.
New varieties are usually developed at large research facilities such as universities. Because most crosses do not result in a desirable strawberry, hundreds of new controlled combinations are made at the beginning a cycle. These are examined regularly, and the plants with favorable traits are retained for further development. After further testing and monitoring, successful varieties are grown on a larger scale for testing, and sometimes put on the market for growers to test. The amount of time it takes for a new variety to be completely ready for commercial use can vary greatly, often taking many years.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45605000/jpg/_45605948_strawberry2.jpg
Developed Varieties:
Nearly every type of strawberry we consume today are the products of selective breeding in the past. The positive qualities of older varieties are bred together, and result in fruit suitable for commercial sales and home consumption. Examples of successful new varieties include:
V151
University of Guelph, Simcoe, Ontario 2007
(FL82-1452 x Selkirk) x (Chandler x 137A84)
The product of four different varieties of strawberries, this very new cultivar is still in researching stages and only recommended for trial use. Although it is very productive and bears high quality berries, it is susceptible to several diseases. Fruit size may begin to diminish in later harvests, and flavor can be inconsistent and sometimes bland. With these crucial deficiencies, it is likely this breed will never enter large scale production. However, it maybe be bred with more specifies for more effective outcomes.
the "Chandler" cultivar
http://www.kennedyseed.net/catalog/chandler3.jpg
Wendy
AAFC, Kentville, N.S. 2006
(Sable x K91-2) x Evangeline
This variety is the result of three preexisting cultivars. Wendy was developed to improve the Evangeline variety, with larger fruit and higher production, while still retaining the early-season properties of its precursor. However, it is susceptible to verticillium wilt and has relatively soft skin, which decreases storage life. Although new, it is already in use, because it succeeds in improving the previous cultivar without gaining excessively detrimental effects.
Albion
University of California 2006
Diamante x Cal94.16-1
Marked by very high quality fruit and resistance to several diseases, this is a fairly successful cultivar. Disadvantages of Albion include inferiority to a similar berry -Seascape- in terms of productivity and winter hardiness. Although new, Albion is already on the market for for large scale annual production because of its many strong features. Lower production is also outweighed by the quality of the fruit and by the large percentage of suitable crop.
Genetic Modification:
Strawberries are mostly altered by means of traditional breeding (with technological assistance), and are rarely genetically modified. The main use genetic modification has had for strawberries is to increase shelf life, but the most well-known is the infamous fishberry.
A common belief that is widespread over the internet is that some types of strawberries contain genes from the Arctic Flounder that make them frost resistant. Sources go as far as to claim people getting fish allergies from eating strawberries, and anti-GM enthusiasts bring it up in nearly every case against genetic engineering. Mention of the fishberry is an effective way to back their arguments, because they make it sound like the strawberry is actually bred with fish.
However, fanciful Franken-berry tales aside, there is little fact to back the fishberry. The only event in which fish genes were ever transferred to a fruit was during a tomato experiment back in 1991. The experiment did not go well, and has never been extended to strawberries. While there may have been some mention of creating frost-resistant genetically modified strawberries, it has never come into practice; no strawberries grown and sold today contain fish genes. Furthermore, had the fishberry existed, the fish genes would most likely not be able to cause allergic reactions, since the codes used for genetics are universal, and the genes are not actually taken form a fish. Instead, the effective genetic information is taken and implemented in the fruit. In short, fishberries (sadly) do not exist! D: 
http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/assets/jpeg/fishberry.jpg
Citations:
http://www.berries4u.com/nursery.htm
http://www.flintbox.com/technology.asp?page=3947
http://www.flintbox.com/fbox.vic?sID={E5007448-7FC5-4748-A98F-165AEA5E810E}&swID=02BC2C489B174811B49A02729E44A485
http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/UF-researchers-develops-new-strawberry-varieties-11871-1/
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/strawvar.htm
http://www.innovationaccess.ucdavis.edu/strawberry/program.htm
http://www.bionetonline.org/English/Content/ff_cont3.htm
http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/media/fishberries.html
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