Advances in MPOB’s genetic engineering programme have made it possible to genetically engineer oil palm for producing valuable commercial products such as high oleate, high stearate and biodegradable plastics. New approaches have been invented to produce transgenic palms such as establishment of a transformation system, isolation of important genes and promoters, construction of transformation vectors with the required combination of genes to achieve the primary target of this programme. To date, a number of transformation vectors have been constructed for many important genes, as well as for a number of genes interacting within complex metabolite pathways. The constructs have been transformed into oil palm cultures which have been regenerated into hundreds of transgenic oil palm (Figure 1).

Main Research: Abdul Masani Mat Yunus