Transgenic Papaya In Hawaii: From the Beginning to the Future

Papaya ringspot virus was discovered in Hawaii in the 1940s but it became notorious when it entered the Puna district of Hawaii Island in 1992 and proceeded to devastate the papaya industry because approximately 95% of the state's papaya crop was being grown in Puna. Research to develop transgenic papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus was started in 1985 using the concept of pathogen-derived resistance. In 1992 field trials showed that a selected transgenic line was resistant to the virus and two cultivars, Rainbow and SunUp, were commercialized in 1998.  Resistance has held up remarkably well in Hawaii and today these cultivars comprise greater than 80% of the papaya grown in Hawaii. This talk describes the "transgenic papaya story" from its inception to the present and beyond.