Plant Biotechnology

Unlike traditional crossbreeding, which randomly mixes thousands of genes to find a desirable trait, plant biotechnology allows scientists to select and transfer specific, well-characterized genes. This precision ensures crops gain beneficial traits-such as insect resistance or drought tolerance-without unintended characteristics.

Advances in plant biotechnology has introduced new plant breeding innovations, collectively known as genome editing technologies  or locally referred to as New breeding techniques (NBTs), to deliver products that are beneficial to both farmers and society. These technologies builds on our understanding of plant breeding and plant genetics and facilitates crop improvement in a more precise and efficient way to develop new plant varieties. What makes genome editing technologies different from genetic modification, is that it doesn’t introduce foreign DNA from other species, instead its allows edits to be made within the plant’s native genome, similar to improvements derived through the conventional breeding process, but in a more timely and precise manner.

The utilization of genome editing technologies in plant science research continues to advance at a rapid pace, promising to deliver products that improve the productivity, resilience and sustainability of our agricultural food production system. To ensure that the value and benefit of these innovations reaches consumers and farmers, a harmonized, proportionate and science based policy approach will be essential.