Method to keep transgenes from spreading

Generally, containment describes a system that separates organisms from the environment - for example, a biosafety laboratory. In the context of genetically modified plants, the term biocontainment relates to any biological measure aimed at preventing this plant or its transgene from reaching other, unmodified organisms.

Co-Extra investigates several approaches of biocontainment:

• cleistogamous plants (flowers do not open, and no pollen with transgenes is transmitted)
• male sterile plants (no pollen production)
• transplastomic plants (no transgenes in the nucleus, but only in the choroplasts. Some plants produce pollen without chloroplasts. In this case, the pollen is free from transgenes).