Short answers, pulled from the story.
Farmers in the Fertile Crescent began cultivating wild barley around 9000 BC. Archaeologists found grinding stones at Ohalo II near the Sea of Galilee dated to about 23000 BC that held traces of starch from wild barley consumption.
A mutation in genes known as Bt1 and Bt2 caused this change. This genetic shift made harvesting much easier for early agriculturalists by developing nonshattering spikelets instead of brittle spikes.
In 2023, world production of barley reached 146 million tonnes. It ranked fourth among all grains globally behind maize, rice, and wheat.
A mutation in gene vrs1 causes the transition to six-row varieties. Six-row barleys have all three spikelets in each cluster become fertile compared to wild barley which retains only one fertile central spikelet per cluster.
Health Canada states consuming at least 3 grams of beta-glucan daily lowers blood cholesterol. The US Food and Drug Administration agrees with this finding regarding whole-grain barley consumption.