Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)
Federal Research Centre
for Cultivated Plants
Head
Dr. Ralf Wilhelm
Address
Erwin-Baur-Str. 27
06484 Quedlinburg, Germany
Office
Mr. Tobias Wittig
Tel: 03946 47-502
Fax: +49(0)3946 47-500
E-mail: sb@ julius-kuehn. de
The aim of breeding is to introduce new traits into already established plant varieties. This means that genes or traits will undergo modifications just to an extent ensuring that existing and desirable traits of the parent variety are conserved. In recent years various new techniques were developed and refined to make breeding processes more precise and faster. Some of these techniques and the resulting plants are undoubtedly within the scope of the Gene Technology Act. For some other methods/plants, so far no decision regarding their status has been taken by the legal authorities of the EU. Several techniques came up only recently, and no clear statements can be given as to unwanted side effects. The intention of the research in this area of work is to allow the evaluation of the environmental sustainability of the plants produced by these techniques, their stability, and potential risks specific for the techniques.