Welcome to page of History of GM Crops

Key Milestones

• Circa 8000 BCE: Humans began using traditional techniques such as selective breeding and cross-breeding to cultivate plants and domesticate animals with preferred traits.
• 1700s: Farmers and scientists start cross-breeding plants within the same species to enhance desirable traits.
• 1953: Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, conducts experiments with pea plants, uncovering the fundamental principles.
• 1983: Three independent research groups successfully produce the first genetically modified plants, creating antibiotic-resistant tobacco and petunias.
• 1992: Virus-resistant tobacco commercialized in China.
• 1994:The first genetically modified crop, the Flavr Savr tomato, was approved for sale in the United States, designed to resist rotting.
• 2000: Golden rice is introduced as the first genetically modified food designed to have enhanced nutritional value.