A century of discoveries and scientific research make plant biotechnology possible
Date: 16.1.2006
People have always strived to grow better, more plentiful foods. As early as 5000 BC, farmers began saving their best and sweetest corn to use as seed the next year. But it wasn't until 1865 that Mendel concluded "unseen particles" pass these traits from generation to generation.
Researchers then began to understand DNA and determined that the cells of all living things are composed of the same basic components. In 1953, Watson and Crick defined the structure of DNA, allowing us to understand how cells store, duplicate and pass genetic information. By 1973, Cohen and Boyer had isolated and moved a gene—a specific piece of DNA—from one organism to another.
Each of these discoveries paved the way for great improvements in plant breeding. In 1982, researchers genetically modified a plant cell for the first time—making precise, controlled improvements in plant breeding possible. Farmers planted the first large-scale commercial biotech crop in the United States in 1996.
Today, after a decade of use on more than one billion acres worldwide, crops developed through biotechnology have delivered significant benefits and a proven record of safe use. The next decade with plant biotechnology holds even more promise.
"Source":[ http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/worldataglance/waag07.htm].
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