What’s new in GM technology applied to plants, as compared to traditional breeding ?

In both cases, the aim is to obtain novel combinations of genes in cultivars with increased value for agriculture and industry, but how this is achieved is different. Traditional breeding relies on sexual crosses between compatible plants and on random mutations for creating novelty, while ‘genetic modification’ in its modern sense uses the potential of DNA recombinant technology for modifying DNA ‘in the test tube’ and for transferring isolated  genes from one organism to the other, avoiding the constraints of sexual compatibility. This makes GM more targeted (only a few genes carrying known functions are inserted in the recipient genome), more rapid (bypassing the multiple cross generations needed by traditional breeding) and allows to tailor plants for the production of molecules which could not be obtained otherwise, like vaccines or bioplastics. However, molecular breeding and sexual breeding should not be opposed but instead are working together to enhance the capacities of plants to meet the challenges of economic performance and sustainability.

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