Plant Genetic Systems (PGS), since 2002 part of

Bayer CropScience Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's a ...

, is a biotech company located in Ghent, Belgium. The focus of its activities is the genetic engineering of plants. The company is best known for its work in the development of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

-resistant

transgenic plant Genetically modified plants have been engineered for scientific research, to create new colours in plants, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of '' Agrobacterium'' for the ...

s. Its origin goes back to the work of Marc Van Montagu and Jeff Schell at the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

who were among the first to assemble a practical system for genetic engineering of plants. They developed a vector system for transferring foreign genes into the plant genome, by using the

Ti plasmid A tumour inducing (Ti) plasmid is a plasmid found in pathogenic species of ''Agrobacterium'', including Agrobacterium tumefaciens, ''A. tumefaciens'', Rhizobium rhizogenes, ''A. rhizogenes'', ''A. rubi'' and Allorhizobium vitis, ''A. vitis''. Ev ...

Agrobacterium tumefaciens ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens'' (also known as ''Rhizobium radiobacter'') is the causal agent of crown gall disease (the formation of tumours) in over 140 species of eudicots. It is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative soil bacterium. Symptoms are cause ...

. They also found a way to make plant cells resistant to the antibiotic

kanamycin Kanamycin A, often referred to simply as kanamycin, is an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections and tuberculosis. It is not a first line treatment. It is used by mouth, injection into a vein, or injection into a muscle. Kanamy ...

by transferring a bacterial

neomycin Neomycin, also known as framycetin, is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that displays bactericidal activity against Gram-negative aerobic bacilli and some anaerobic bacilli where resistance has not yet arisen. It is generally not effective against ...

phosphotransferase gene into the plant genome. PGS was the first company (in 1985) to develop genetically engineered (

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

) plants with insect tolerance by expressing genes encoding for insecticidal proteins from

Bacillus thuringiensis ''Bacillus thuringiensis'' (or Bt) is a gram-positive bacteria, gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, the most commonly used biological pesticide worldwide. ''B. thuringiensis'' also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types ...

(Bt).

History

The company was founded in 1982 by Marc Van Montagu and Jeff Schell who worked at the

, Belgium. In 1996 the company was acquired by ''AgrEvo''. In 2000, Aventis CropScience was formed through a merger of AgrEvo and Rhône-Poulenc Agro. In 1999, a trial of AgrEvo genetically modified maize was the target of a Greenpeace direct action near Lyng, Norfolk, and was involved in the subsequent trial of the activists. In 2000

StarLink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...

, a genetically modified maize developed by Plant Genetic Systems was detected in over 300 consumer food products in the US, triggering a

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (baseball), a baseball term * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...

. StarLink had not been approved for human consumption by the FDA. Following the recalls, PGS at first tried to get the application for human consumption approved, and then withdrew the product entirely from the market.Michael R. Taylor and Jody S. Tick of Resources for the Future, Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology
The StarLink Case: Issues for the Future
In 2002,

was formed through Bayer's acquisition of the plant biotech branch Aventis CropScience.

References

* Hofte H, de Greve H, Seurinck J, Jansens S, Mahillon J, Ampe C, Vandekerckhove J, Vanderbruggen H, van Montagu M, Zabeau M, et al., Structural and functional analysis of a cloned delta endotoxin of Bacillus thuringiensis berliner 1715, Eur. J. Biochem. 1986 December 1;161(2):273-80. * Leemans J, Ti to Tomato, Tomato to Market: A decade of plant biotechnology, Bio/Technology, vol. 11, March 1993. * Vaeck, M., A. Reynaerts, H. Hofte, S. Jansens, M. De Beuckeleer, C. Dean, M. Zabeau, M. Van Montagu & J. Leemans. 1987, Transgenic plants protected from insect attack, Nature 328: 33-37.

External links

Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries
Biological pest control Genetic engineering and agriculture Biotechnology companies of Belgium Biotechnology companies established in 1982 1982 establishments in Belgium Companies based in Ghent {{Belgium-company-stub

History

See also

References

External links