In a recent publication (Nature Biotechnology, February Issue) Icon Genetics Research Centre Freising reports on a novel technology for generating transgenic plants, which do not contain a selection marker gene. “This work is a good example of ICON Genetics’ endeavour to address bio-safety issues, such as the use of antibiotic resistance genes, in the context of genetically modified plants by developing new approaches using state of the art biotechnology”, says Hans-Ulrich Koop, Co-Founder of ICON Genetics and Research Director of the Freising site. “In addition”, he points out, “the technology further strengthens our excellent IP position in plastid transformation, where during the past years we have developed a whole set of independent technologies, which give us freedom to operate in this area.”

ICON Genetics Research Centre Freising focuses on transformation of chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis in plant cells. This approach largely reduces the probability of undesired gene escape into the environment. Timothy Golds, Group Leader at the Freising Research Centre: "Our technology provides the highest level of genetic safety by combining chloroplast transformation with a system that automatically removes the selection gene from the transgenic plants. This technological breakthrough is based on the re-greening of artificially created pigment deficient acceptor lines together with resistance markers that are unable to stably integrate into the chloroplast genome. Furthermore", he adds, "The new system is comparable in efficiency with existing procedures for chloroplast transformation but has the additional advantage of reducing the time necessary for production of the transgenic plants."