Source: CropBiotech Update

One aspect of safety studies on genetically modified (GM) crops involves global gene expression analysis, to see if there are any differences in gene expression patterns between a transgenic line and the mother variety. This may be carried out by studying the messenger RNA molecules (transcript profiling) or proteins produced by the crop species.

Such an activity was carried out by Per L. Gregersen and colleagues of the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, as they conducted “A microarray-based comparative analysis of gene expression profiles during grain development in transgenic and wild type wheat.” Their work* appears in the December 2005 issue of Transgenic Research.

Researchers compared gene expression profiles of developing seeds of wild type wheat and wheat transformed for endosperm-specific expression of an Aspergillus fumigatus phytase. To accomplish this, they crafted a cDNA microarray, and used the microarray to profile the transgenic wheat and its mother variety at three developmental stages. Researchers found that there were only slight differences in gene expression between either wheat type, and these were for genes which were strongly expressed over a short interval of seed development.