Canola is well positioned to become the nation's biggest cash crop. Now, advances in plant biotechnology are creating a second wave of new canola varieties, with a wide range of values beyond human and animal nutrition. The simple reason is that canola is relatively easy to transform using genetic engineering. A second reason why canola is suited for genetic transformation is that it rejuvenates well from tissue cultures. If you have ever grown house plants, you will know that some plants can be grown from cuttings rather than seeds.
Tissue culture is a comparable process.
Once canola cells have been genetically modified using biotechnologies, it is relatively easy to grow whole plants directly from these modified cells using special growth chambers. Canola has also become the object of biotech research and development because it is a very valuable crop, meaning that seed companies are willing to invest their money in research and development costs. As a result, canola now dominates Canadian field trials of genetically-modified crops. A majority of field trials for canola occur in Saskatchewan. Saskatoon - A World Centre for Canola Research Saskatoon houses one of the world's largest initiatives in canola breeding and research genetics.