Are there GMO green beans being grown?

Expert response from Yossi Shapiro, Ph.D.

Former Breeding Director, Large Seed/Root & Bulb Crops, Monsanto Company

Friday, 09/01/2015 12:52

To date, no GMO green beans have been commercialized.  However the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation has developed and obtained regulatory approval for commercialization in Brazil of the transgenic “Embrapa 5.1” common bean (Phaseolus), resistant to bean golden mosaic virus (BGMV).  This is one of 37 GMO crops that have been approved by the Brazilian regulatory agency, CTNBio.  Breeders have unsuccessfully tried to develop lines with resistance to the virus for the past 30 yrs. Biotechnology was seen as the most promising means to develop resistant beans, and represents the first GE plant developed entirely by public sector scientists in Latin America.  In addition to potentially protecting yield, the VR bean may also enable planting on as much as 200,000 hectares of land on which the golden mosaic virus is so prevalent that farmers cannot grow beans at all at present    .

Meanwhile, breeders of green beans in many world areas are also applying traditional plant breeding methodologies to develop new varieties with better combinations of characteristics to benefit farmers, processors and consumers.  In particular, they are working to improve yield, eating quality, and resistance to fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, and many are accelerating their efforts using molecular marker technology. The common objective of all of this work is to enhance the green beans grown and eaten by people, as a component of nutritious and healthful diets.