Researchers in Wageningen have developed a new method in which a genetically modified plant destroys its transgenes once it has manufactured its pollen. This makes it possible to avoid the spread of transgenes, and to use plants as molecular factories in a cleaner way.

In addition to the genes transferred, there is also a gene that ensures that all the transgenes are thrown out once the plant starts to make pollen. The transferred gene to a promoter on only while the plant is making pollen.

This is a new example of a GURT (see http://www.cropgen.org/article_72.html). The plant does produce seed but the production of transgenic pollen that is prevented so that transgenes cannot be transferred to wild relatives or other crops through pollen. This new method obviates the need to spray plants with chemicals to turn the switch on or off.

The system has been tested in tobacco plants, the source of the genetic switch: only two out of 16,800 seeds produced from the transgenic plant pollen contained transgenes, a surprisingly low percentage.

However, the developers of the method do not think it will silence the campaigners. They are right: anti-GM campaigns are not based upon or influenced by scientific data and evidence but reflect their political and commercial objectives and those of their partners and allies. The activist will let go only when the ground is cut from under their feet or they find something better as a campaigninh issue. That may not be far away: the public boredom index for their arguments is now very high.

Sources:

1. Transgenes in plant, but not in pollen. Wageningen University (22nd June, 2006) (http://www.wb-online.nl)

2. Ludmila Mlynárová, Anthony J. Conner and Jan-Peter Nap. Directed microspore-specific recombination of transgenic alleles to prevent pollen-mediated transmission of transgenes. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 4 (4), (July 2006) (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2006.00194.x)

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