Why Make Transgenic Crop Plants?
A plant breeder tries to assemble a combination of genes in a crop plant which will make it as useful and productive as possible. Depending on where and for what purpose the plant is grown, desirable genes may provide features such as higher yield or improved quality, pest or disease resistance, or tolerance to heat, cold and drought. Combining the best genes in one plant is a long and difficult process, especially as traditional plant breeding has been limited to artificially crossing plants within the same species or with closely related species to bring different genes together. For example, a gene for protein in soybean could not be transferred to a completely different crop such as corn using traditional techniques. Transgenic technology enables plant breeders to bring together in one plant useful genes from a wide range of living sources, not just from within the crop species or from closely related plants. This technology provides the means for identifying and isolating genes co
