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Title: CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF TRANSGENIC PAPAYA WORK IN HAWAII

Author
item Gonsalves, Dennis

Submitted to: Proceedings of the OECD/USAID/ARS Conference on Virus Resistant Transgenic Papaya in Hawaii: A Case for Technology Transer to Lesser Developed Countries
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/24/2004
Publication Date: 12/12/2004
Citation: Gonsalves, D. 2004. Chronological summary of transgenic papaya work in Hawaii. In: Gonsalves, D., editor. OECD/USAID/ARS Conference on Virus Resistant Transgenic Papaya in Hawaii: A Case for Technology Transfer to Lesser Developed Countries, October 22-24, 2003, Hilo, Hawaii. p. 5-8.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Papaya ringspot caused severe damage to Hawaii’s papaya industry starting from 1992 when papaya ringspot virus was discovered in Puna, where 95% of the commercial papaya was being grown. The main papaya cultivars grown in Hawaii are the nontransgeic Kapoho, Sunrise, and Sunset, and the transgenic SunUp, and Rainbow. Papaya ringspot virus was first reported in Hawaii in 1945 and caused lots of damage to papaya crops on Oahu Island; it was discovered in Puna in May 1992. A chronological description of the research on the transgenic papaya is given with the main points being: 1978: start research on papaya ringspot virus, 1985: start research on transgenic papaya, 1991: identify line 55-1 that is resistant to papaya ringspot virus, 1992: first field trial, 1995: field trial in Puna, 1997: line 55-1 is deregulated by Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food and Drug Administration, 1998: licenses to commercialize transgenic papaya are obtained by the papaya administrative committee, May 1998: seeds of transgenic papaya are released to growers. Efforts are being made to deregulate the transgenic papaya. The important chronological events are: December 2002: transgenic papaya is approved by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, and April 2003: application to get transgenic papaya deregulated is filed with the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare.