This was part of a research conducted by me and some of my classmates. The product was a video in which we submitted for a competition. I would like to share some of the content of our research:
The outbreak of the papaya ringspot virus a few years ago devastated the papaya plantations on Hawaii. The papaya ringspot virus is a plant pathogenic virus that is transmitted between plants by mechanical activities like pruning and by numerous aphid species such as Myzus persicae, infecting papaya and several members of the melon family. This results in very unhealthy papaya which would not be able to sell as it is unhealthy. Up to 80% of the papaya was affected in the country, which was an extremely serious problem.
However, which the help of Genetic Modification, this problem can be solved. Genetic modification is basically introduction of new and foreign DNA into the the organism of interest. This way they will have new properties and characteristics.
Hence, in order to solve this problem of the papaya ringspot virus, we can introduce DNA of plants that are immune to this papaya ringspot virus. The papaya ringspot virus mainly affects papaya, watermelon and several other plants of the melon family. Hence, we can use the DNA of a plant that is not of the melon family (eg. Oranges, rambutan) to be introduced into the nucleus of the intended host cells of the papayas. This way the papayas, too will be immune to this virus.
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