Genetic engineering

Press, 5 August 1988, Page 14

Genetic engineering

There are a lot of misconceptions about genetic engineering, but the simple fact is that genetic engineering is just plant breeding at a molecular level, according to •Dr Nick Ashby, the leader of the D.S.I.R.’s Crop Research Division’s biotechnology group. As plant breeders for over 50 years, D.S.I.R. has been quick to adopt molecular plant breeding in recent years, as it offers a number of advantages over classical plant breeding. One of the most attrac-

tive 'reasons for using these methods is that a plant breeder can sort out thousands of individuals for some of the traits he or she is looking for, in a small glass container rather than on acres of land. “If you are working at the cellular level,” said Dr Ashby, “then you do not need to worry if the plants are sexually compatible or in fact if the genes even come from plants, thus a so-called ‘gene pool’ becomes a ‘gene ocean’; the oppor-

- tunities are much less i limited." Another major advan- ! tage of breeding at the 1 cellular level is that a 1 single gene can be put into a good variety to make it better. “For example we are currently putting some virus resistance genes into potato cultivars which lack resistance to virus,” said Dr Ashby. It always comes down to classical plant breeding techniques before commercial release,” said Dr Ashby.