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How is a transgenic plant produced?

There are some methods available to introduce foreign DNA into a plant cell, but the most popular way to introduce new genes into plants is the use of the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a vector. This soil-borne bacterium, when it affects a dicotyledonous plant cell usually causes the growth of tumour cells at the base of the plant, by introducing its own DNA into the plant. This ability to carry out gene transfer is used in the production of transgenic crops. The desired gene is introduced into the bacterium and the bacterium then introduces the DNA into the plant, where it can be integrated into the plant genome.