Transgenic Plants - We discussed a variety of methods which can be used for transfer of foreign genes to plant cells, tissues or organs. This transformation has been achieved at the level of protoplasts or cells in many plant species although the ultimate objective should be the production of transgenic plants following regeneration of whole plants from transformed protoplasts/cells.
Not in all cases, the success in transformation could be combined with success in regeneration. However now there are more than 50 plant species, where transgenic plants have been successfully produced. Initially, the production of transgenic plants was restricted to dicotyledons, but it has now been extended to several monocotyledons like wheat, maize, rice and oats.

Progress in this exciting area of research for production of transgenic plants has been so spectacular that by the turn of the century, we hope to be growing crops which have been tailored to market specifications by the addition, subtraction or modification of genes.

Another major goal for production of transgenic plants, is their, use as bioreactors or factories for production of speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. This area is described as molecular farming or molecular pharming. The transgenic plants have also been produced for identification of regulatory sequences for many genes, using gene constructs with overlapping deletions.