The initial emphasis has generally been on the improvement of qualities of value to the farmer. The majority of this work has been initiated and funded by the seed industry. The second and third generations of genetically-modified food plants will bring benefits that more directly affect commercial food processors and consumers. Plant tissue culture is the cultivation of plant cells or tissues on specially-formulated nutrient media. In appropriate conditions, an entire plant can be regenerated from each single cell, permitting the rapid production of many identical plants.
Tissue culture is an essential tool in modern plant breeding.
Since it was first developed the early 1960s, plant tissue culture has become the basis of a major industry, providing high-value plants for nurseries. Over the years, several attempts have been made to cultivate plant cells in fermenter vessels with the aim of producing valuable products such as medicines and natural food flavourings. To date, success in this area has been limited. Cell culture is also used for the conservation of those plant varieties that cannot be maintained in a normal seed bank. It relies upon scientists' ability to isolate specific stretches of DNA using specialised enzymes which cut the DNA at precise locations.