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End Notes
1
Genetic engineering is a technique used to alter genetic material (genes) of living cells. A gene
is a segment of DNA that expresses a particular trait. It is a unit of heredity transmitted from
generation to generation during reproduction (Zaid et al., 1999). DNA constitutes the
genetic material of most known organisms.
2
Plant biotechnology in general and genetic engineering in particular have significantly reduced
the time needed to develop improved plant varieties, increasing the range and precision of
characteristics incorporated into these new varieties (Fernandez-Cornejo, 2004). By
allowing scientists to target single plant traits through genetic recombination techniques,
plant biotechnology decreases the number of residual unwanted characteristics that often
result from traditional plant breeding crosses, enabling breeders to develop desirable new
varieties more rapidly.
3
Several second-generation GE crops have been approved by APHIS: high-lysine corn, reduced-
nicotine tobacco, higholeic acid soybean oil, stearidonic acid-producing soybeans, improved
fatty acid-profile soybeans, altered-flower color roses (blue), oil profile-altered canola, and
alpha amylase corn. Overall, nearly 20 percent of the approvals for deregulation (as of
September 2013) are second-generation crops.
4
Another indicator of R&D activity is the number of patents issued by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office. More than 4,200 new agricultural biotech patents were issued between
1996 and 2000 (King and Heisey, 2003, 2004).
5
A gene construct is the technical name used for a functional unit necessary for the transfer or the
expression of a gene of interest (http://www.gmo-safety.eu/glossary/667.gene-
construct.html). Typically, a construct comprises the gene or genes of interest, a marker
gene (to facilitate detection inside the plant), and appropriate control sequences as a single
package (FAO, 2001).
