Transgenic plants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Transgenic plants - Essay Example ique was to create disease resistant specie by making forced hybridization between distinct plant species through in-vitro technique such as protoplast fission or embryo rescue (Wikipedia, 2009). In the process of transgenic plants development, DNA plays the most vital role. The genetic information remains encoded in DNA through certain specific sequence of four bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine). The whole process can be well expressed with the help of the diagram given below: Hence, from the diagram it is clear that at first the DNA gets converted to mRNA through transcription and then by the process of translation it gets converted into protein. This protein acts as a bio-catalyst and can accelerate other biochemical reactions or it can turn to storage unit of a cell and contribute in formation of a trait of the plant. As discussed above, transgenic plant is the product of DNA transfer and hence, there are two main methods of transforming plants cell and tissues. It can be performed either by â€Å"Gene Gun† method, which is more common in monocot species, or through â€Å"Agrobacterium† method, that has been successfully used in the dicot species. (Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, 2004). The traditional process of transgenic plant development is still controversial as evidences indicate that this technique was in use from many years for developing different variety of food crop which were resistant to many devastating diseases. In 1930, a variety of wheat called â€Å"Hope† was developed by E. S. McFadden which was resistant to â€Å"rusts†. It was found that natural movement of genes commonly occurs due to transposons and retrotransposons (mobile genetic elements). They assist in natural translocation of the genes in the genome and thus, lead to the formation of a new species. This is a natural process for formation of transgenic plants and these natural mobile genetic elements have been used by many researchers in their laboratory work