Genetically Engineered Tolerance to Citrus Greening

Well a hip-hip-hooray for the University of Florida! The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently reviewed two separate submissions from the college of plants modified using genetic engineering to determine whether they posed an increased plant pest risk as relative to non-modified comparators. APHIS found that the two plants, the first being a sweet orange and the second being a grapefruit, were both unlikely to pose an increased risk. Bottom line, when talking from a plant risk perspective, APHIS contends that both plants may be safely grown and bred in the United States.

Alright, all that said and done, what’s the genetic engineering for? Well, both of these plants have been engineered to express disease tolerance to citrus greening. From the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, the problem was first reported in southern China in 1919. It spread to the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, and Thailand before being confirmed in the state of Florida in 2005. It has since had an economic detriment in the billions here in the U.S.