MEETING NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF 9.7 BILLION PEOPLE BY 2050 IS A CHALLENGING GOAL IN THE FACE OF A CHANGING CLIMATE. INCREASED GENETIC DIVERSITY PRESENT IN SYNTHETIC HEXAPLOID WHEAT (SHW) IS A VALUABLE RESOURCE. SCIENTISTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL MAIZE AND WHEAT IMPROVEMENT CENTER (CIMMYT) HAVE UTILIZED SHW EXTENSIVELY IN SPRING WHEAT BREEDING; BUT ONLY LIMITED RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE TO BRING THIS DIVERSITY INTO WINTER WHEAT. IN 2004, THE TEXAS A&AMP;M WHEAT BREEDING PROGRAM STARTED COLLABORATION WITH CIMMYT TO INTROGRESS TRAITS FROM SHW INTO WINTER WHEAT GERMPLASM BY CROSSING PRIMARY SYNTHETICS WITH TWO BROADLY GROWN LANDMARK CULTIVARS, TAM 111 AND TAM 112. WE HAVE DEVELOPED AND TESTED 10,000 SYNTHETIC DERIVED LINES (SDL) AND IDENTIFIED MOLECUTAR MARKERS LINKED TO YIELD, HEAT AND DROUGHT TOLERANCE, STAND ESTABLISHMENT, GROWTH RATE, BIOMASS ACCUMULATION, YIELD COMPONENTS, HARVEST INDEX, AND RESISTANCE TO MULTIPLE BIOTIC STRESSES. AFTER SIFTING THROUGH IMMEASURABLE DIVERSITY TO FIND DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH, WE ARE PROPOSING TO MAKE THE FINAL PUSH TO DEVELOP IMPROVED GERMPLASM AND CULTIVARS. SDL, DEVELOPED BY CROSSING HIGH BIOMASS SHW TO HIGH GRAIN YIELD ELITE WINTER WHEAT, PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT GERMPLASM SOURCE FOR MAXIMIZING YIELD POTENTIAL AND RESILIENCE IN BOTH LOW AND HIGH INPUT WHEAT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.