Abstract This paper gives an overview of genetic engineering in plants that is geared toward inducing virus resistance. Several methods of achieving viral resistance in plants through genetic engineering are detailed, as well as considerations of using these methods. Methods covered include post-transcriptional gene silencing, coat-protein-mediated resistance, ribosomal inactivating proteins, resistance genes and plantibodies. The paper also discusses both risks and benefits of using genetic engineering in plants and provides case studies of successful implementation of genetically engineered virus resistance in crop plants such as papaya and potato.
From the Paper "As the upward trend of the human population in the world today continues, the demand for sufficient food sources continues to grow as well. In undeveloped countries especially, the need for productive and healthy crops that can sustain a growing human population is not always met. In India, China and many African nations where hunger is a very real issue, the problem of food shortages can be greatly exacerbated by plant diseases and viruses, which can kill almost an entire field of crop of an unlucky or unprepared farmer. With the advent of genetic engineering, however, the possibility of creating plants with built-in genetic defenses against such devastating diseases has become very real, and in many cases has already been accomplished. A wide variety of strategies for engineering viral resistance in plants have been developed, and researchers have successfully utilized these strategies in creating plants resistant to papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) and potato virus Y (PVY), among others."
