Biotechnologically Engineered Plants

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Scientists are exploring the use of new genetic tools to engineer crop varieties which can result in desirable traits such as improved yield, disease resistance, and enhanced nutritional value. By manipulating the plants’ genetic makeup, they are able to develop transgenic plants capable of producing valuable biotechnological compounds. The development of plant-based biomanufacturing could offer a more sustainable and cost-effective method to produce useful products compared to traditional manufacturing process. ABSTRACT: The development of recombinant DNA technology during the past thirty years has enabled scientists to isolate, characterize, and manipulate a myriad of different animal, bacterial, and plant genes. This has, in turn, led to the commercialization of hundreds of useful products that have significantly improved human health and well-being. Commercially, these products have been mostly produced in bacterial, fungal, or animal cells grown in culture. More recently, scientists have begun to develop a wide range of transgenic plants that produce numerous useful compounds. The perceived advantage of producing foreign compounds in plants is that compared to other methods of producing these compounds, plants seemingly provide a much less expensive means of production. A few plant-produced compounds are already commercially available; however, many more are in the production pipeline.