Genetically modified plant

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Transgenic plants
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Genetically modified plants have been engineered for scientific research, to create new colours in plants, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of

pluripotent, meaning that a single cell from a mature plant can be harvested and then under the right conditions form a new plant. This ability is most often taken advantage by genetic engineers through selecting cells that can successfully be transformed into an adult plant which can then be grown into multiple new plants containing transgene in every cell through a process known as tissue culture.[1]

Research

Much of the advances in the field genetic engineering has come from experimentation with tobacco. Major advances in tissue culture and plant cellular mechanisms for a wide range of plants has originated from systems developed in tobacco.[2] It was the first plant to be genetically engineered and is considered a model organism for not only genetic engineering, but a range of other fields.[3] As such the transgenic tools and procedures are well established making it one of the easiest plants to transform.[4] Another major model organism relevant to genetic engineering is Arabidopsis thaliana. Its small genome and short life cycle makes it easy to manipulate and it contains many homologs to important crop species.[5] It was the first plant sequenced, has abundant bioinformatic resources and can be transformed by simply dipping a flower in a transformed Agrobacterium solution.[6]

In research, plants are engineered to help discover the functions of certain genes. The simplest way to do this is to remove the gene and see what

promoter and see what happens when it is over expressed, forcing a gene to be expressed in a different location or at different developmental stages.[1]

Ornamental

Suntory "blue" rose
Kenyans examining insect-resistant transgenic Bt corn

Some genetically modified plants are purely

Carnations were released in 1997, with the most popular genetically modified organism, a blue rose (actually lavender or mauve) created in 2004.[10] The roses are sold in Japan, the United States, and Canada.[11][12] Other genetically modified ornamentals include Chrysanthemum and Petunia.[8] As well as increasing aesthetic value there are plans to develop ornamentals that use less water or are resistant to the cold, which would allow them to be grown outside their natural environments.[13]

Conservation

It has been proposed to genetically modify some plant species threatened by extinction to be resistant invasive plants and diseases, such as the emerald ash borer in North American and the fungal disease, Ceratocystis platani, in European plane trees.[14] The papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) devastated papaya trees in Hawaii in the twentieth century until transgenic papaya plants were given pathogen-derived resistance.[15] However, genetic modification for conservation in plants remains mainly speculative. A unique concern is that a transgenic species may no longer bear enough resemblance to the original species to truly claim that the original species is being conserved. Instead, the transgenic species may be genetically different enough to be considered a new species, thus diminishing the conservation worth of genetic modification.[14]

Crops