Biotechnology Provides New Tools for Plant Breeding

Abstract

Biotechnology in its broadest sense refers to the use of living organisms or their com-ponents to provide useful products. This definition can include activities as diverse as making wine, beer, or bread; composting organic materials; releasing parasitic wasps to control insect pests; breeding plants or animals; and producing crops and livestock. In fact, agriculture itself can be considered to be the original biological technology. With increasing knowledge of genetics, plant breeders in this century have accelerated the improvement of crops for enhanced yield and quality. New recombinant DNA techniques now allow the specific identification, isolation, and alteration of genes and their rein-troduction into living organisms to produce transgenic varieties. These new techniques are supplementing and extending traditional breeding methods to enhance the produc-tion of food, fiber, and other agricultural products. Farmers in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and other countries have rapidly adopted transgenic crop varieties. Between 1996 and 2001, the global production of transgenic soybean, cotton, corn, and canola varieties increased from essentially none to over 125 million acres (50 million hectares). California' s farmers produce over 350 different crops, and the state leads the nation in the production of 79 crops. California is also where the first commercial food prod-uct derived from a transgenic crop variety, Calgene' s Flavr Savr tomato, was developed and commercialized in 1994, although it is no longer on the market. Since then, com-mercialization and adoption of transgenic agronomic crops such as corn, soybean, and cotton has occurred predominantly in the midwestern and southern United States. Significant commercial production of transgenic cotton varieties began in California in the 1999 crop year and is increasing rapidly in acreage. Other crops are expected to fol-low suit in the future as transgenic traits are incorporated into additional crops that are important in California. The introduction of transgenic crops has not been without controversy. Fears have been raised that these new techniques present unknown dangers and unacceptable risks compared to traditional methods of crop improvement. To evaluate these concerns, it is necessary to understand how modern crop varieties have been developed using plant breeding supplemented by biotechnology. This publication describes the genetic basis of crop improvement and how traditional breeding technologies compare to and integrate with the new methods.