The resulting organism carrying the transgene is called a transgenic organism or a genetically modified organism (GMO).
If it works, the FHI will ask the government for permission to plant transgenic chestnuts in the wild, with the intention of re-establishing the species in America's woodlands.
And so far it looks as though GM crops actually help protect the environment, by reducing the need for chemical pesticides.Last year, about 44m hectares of transgenic crops were planted, more than 20 times the area in 1996.
Unlike transgenic animals, such plants are designed to live in the open, where they may crossbreed with wild relatives and products made with them will end up on the dinner table.
It finds that in 13 American states that have been growing transgenic soyabeans, herbicide applications per acre have fallen by 9%, but 14% more herbicide is being used in total because acreages have expanded as well.
Researchers have also shown that Bt toxins of the sort produced by the transgenic plants stay in the ground longer than expected, and may kill local insects and soil organisms.
A business in purifying and selling bacterial enzymes for use in food manufacturing, washing powders and so on has existed for decades, but in 1988 a Danish firm called Novozymes produced the first transgenic enzyme, a fat-digester for detergents.
It could be another year or so before TranXenoGen produces fully transgenic chickens with a higher yield of therapeutic protein in their eggs.
The researchers took pieces of limb tissue such as dermis, cartilage and muscle from these transgenic animals and transplanted them into the limbs of ordinary axolotls.
Efforts to create transgenic grapevines are well advanced, and transgenic wine yeasts are already starting to appear in American winemaking.Alas, those working on transgenic vines have failed to heed the lessons of earlier GM-food fiascos.
The biggest advantage of genetic selection, however, is probably not that it makes it possible to grow transgenic crops ("Frankenfoods"), but that it allows faster and more precise breeding.Imagine the genetic material of plants as a vast library, with billions of books.
