Patent ID: 8653327

Claim:
A method for introducing a linear nucleic acid molecule of interest into a plant cell having a cell wall, the method comprising: providing the plant cell having a cell wall; coating a semiconductor nanoparticle with polyethylene glycol; coating the semiconductor nanoparticle with a linear nucleic acid molecule of interest; placing the plant cell having a cell wall and the coated semiconductor nanoparticle in contact with each other; allowing uptake of the semiconductor nanoparticle and the linear nucleic acid molecule of interest into the cell comprising a cell wall; by allowing translocation of the semiconductor nanoparticle and the linear nucleic acid molecule of interest across the cell wall and into the plant cell, wherein the translocation does not occur solely as a result of momentum imparted to the particle by something other than the cell into which the particle is being taken up; and selecting cells that have stably integrated the linear nucleic acid molecule of interest.