To what end are humans genetically engineering plants? This is an essential question for researchers, executives of biotechnology companies, and consumers at large. Before addressing technical questions about how to apply biotechnology, the desired goals must be clearly defined. The general goals of plant biotechnology appear to be economic improvement of existing products, improvement of human nutrition, and development of novel products from plants.
Economic improvements include increases in yield, quality, pest resistance, nutritional value, harvestability or any other change that adds value to an established agricultural product. Examples of this category include insect protected tomatoes, potatoes, cotton, and corn, herbicide-resistant canola, corn, cotton, flax, and soybeans, canola and soybeans with genetically altered oil compositions, virus resistant squash and papayas, and improved ripening tomatoes. All these examples were introduced to agriculture in the later half of the 1990's.
See also: Genetic Engineering, Public Concern, Novel Products
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