Transgenic Papaya: Development, Release, Impact and Challenges

Abstract

The pathogen-derived resistance approach for developing virus resistant transgenic plants is a time-tested and proven technology that works. Numerous reports starting from two decades ago have clearly vouched for its applicability to many viruses and crops. This chapter considers the development, testing, release and impact of the virus-resistant transgenic papaya in Hawaii. The efforts to transfer the technology to Jamaica, Venezuela, and Thailand have also been covered because they reflect the range of factors that affect deployment of transgenic crops in various countries. The focus is on the factors that contributed to the timely development and commercialization of the transgenic papaya and those that are affecting its impact. Challenges such as durability of resistance, growing of non-transgenic papaya in Hawaii for the Japanese market, deregulation of the transgenic papaya in Japan and the co-existence of transgenic and non-transgenic papaya in Hawaii have also been discussed. The Hawaii papaya project took on increased urgency because it coincided with the devastation that Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) caused to papaya production.