Virus-resistant transgenic papaya
Papaya transgénica resistente al virus de la mancha anular
- Date
- 1998 · confidence high
- Place
- Hilo, Hawaii, United States
- Credited to
- Dennis Gonsalves and colleagues at Cornell and the University of Hawaii
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
A papaya variety engineered with the coat protein gene of the papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), which gives it resistance through gene silencing. It was released to Hawaiian farmers in 1998 and saved the islands' papaya industry.
It is one of the first transgenic crops developed by a public university. It is considered a success in fighting a virus through genetic engineering.
What it led to
- commercial cultivation of transgenic papaya in Hawaii and its approval in Japan and Canada
- pathogen-derived resistance as a breeding strategy
- a reference case in the debate on GMOs