Biotech breakthrough set to slash prices on expensive orchids
 

I assume "four bodied" means 4N. As they are talking about
"transplantation", then this is mechanical and not chemical like
colchicine? Will this be workable for small breeders, or will it just
work out for those huge breeding factories?
FYI, NT$300 is about US$9.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHead...sp?categid=198
&recordid=88753

Those wishing to produce a new type of orchid must often devote a
lifetime of hard effort to the task. But now, Kaohsiung university
professor Chen Wen-hui has developed a new biotechnology featuring gene
transplantation that hastens the process of nurturing new varieties, and
can bring valuable, rare orchid varieties into large-scale standardized
reproduction, so that a plant previously valued at NT$3 million could
sell for a mere NT$300.

Chen has been involved in orchid research for nearly three decades. A
number of years ago, the professor decided to team up with a dozen-odd
researchers including professor Lin Caiyun of Qinghua University's
Department of Biotechnology and professor Chen Honghua of Chenggong
University. The group got a grant from the National Science Foundation
and published in major international journals in 2001 and 2003. At
present, patent applications are underway for the technology they
developed, and when it comes into use, it is estimated that it will
cause great turmoil among the ranks of traditional growers, while
allowing consumers to enjoy high-class orchids at cut-rate prices. The
technology is on the cutting edge of plant propagation technologies
worldwide.

Taiwan is the world's largest exporter of butterfly orchids, shipping
about NT$4 billion worth of plants annually. However, traditional orchid
raising involved hybrid breeding, and a healthy element of luck. Only
plants that grew well could fetch attractive prices, and new varieties
were not certain to be viable after two or three generations.

Chen's research focused on developing a "four-bodied butterfly orchid,"
technology as a breakthrough in the propagation of the plants. He says
that the Taiwanese orchid that won the world orchid competition in 1993
was a naturally-occurring four-bodied flower, the blooms of which were
one-third larger than others and which had rounder, thicker leaves and
superior resistance to disease.

Chen says that original orchids were all "two-bodied." He takes two-
bodied flowers and uses artificial means to hasten their development
into improved four-bodied flowers, then interbreeds them with other
four-bodied plants to produce a new variety.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html