Cisgenic Plants Argued Similar to Traditionally-Bred Plants

Cisgenic plants are bred by introducing genes from the crop plants themselves or from crossable species using marker-free transformation techniques. By adopting this breeding process called ‘cisgenesis’, plant breeders can produce cultivars that are equivalent to classically-bred plants, said researchers in the Netherlands. T

he researchers, Evert Jacobsen and Henk Schouten, mentioned that cisgenesis is comparable to the induced translocation method of improving plants. In induced translocation, the insertion site of the genes is a priori unknown like in cisgenesis. Thus, Jacobsen and Schouten recommend that plants derived through cisgenesis be treated similar to traditionally-bred plants and exempted from GMO regulations. The researchers note that they have successfully tested cisgenesis in breeding disease resistant apple and potato cultivars.

The complete review paper published by the journal Trends in Biotechnology can be accessed by subscribers at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2007.03.008.