Intragenic Modification for Crops

A new technology called intragenic modification is being utilized to remove lingering toxins and allergens in crops while enhancing the levels of health-promoting antioxidants. This technology, introduced in 2003 by Kaare M. Nielsen of the University of Tromsø, Norway  is a genetic engineering procedure that transforms plants with native genetic elements only.  Specific genetic elements from a plant are isolated, recombined  in vitro, and re-inserted into a plant that belongs to the same sexual compatibility group. This approach improves the agronomic performance or nutritional characteristics of crops but does not introduce traits that are new to the sexual compatibility group. Intragenic modification could also be applied to eliminate numerous allergens or toxins by silencing the associated genes. 

This genetic engineering approach can also be used to eliminate undesirable traits in one part of the plant and re-introduced for expression in another part of the plant where it is going to be useful. Thus, toxins meant to kill pests in the edible plant parts can be removed and be activated somewhere else. Enzymes for nutritional improvement on the other hand can be obtained from non-edible plant parts and moved to another part.

Details of the research article can be found at: http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2007/news07.Sep.htm and published in Agric Food Chem 55, 4281-4288