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Modern biotechnological techniques have rapidly expanded the horizons of plant breeding and crop improvement. Conventional breeding techniques rely on the random rearrangement of existing genes between two closely related parent plants. Now, genetic engineering has opened up new possibilities by allowing the transfer of individual, known genes, even from completely unrelated organisms such as fungi or bacteria. Genetic engineering thus provides a supplement to classical breeding approaches. This chapter gives examples of crop traits that have been or are being conferred by means of genetic engineering.
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