KERTBUNDIT, Sunee, JUŘÍČEK, Miloslav. Application of Transgenic Technologies to Papaya: Developments and Biosafety Assessments in Thailand. Transgenic Plant Journal. 2010, 4(1), 52-57. ISSN 1749-0413.

Papaya (Carica papaya) is one of the staple foods in Thailand. Since 1975, papaya production in Thailand has been severely limited by Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) which is now endemic. The great success of transgenic papaya resistant to PRSV from Hawaii in the 1990s signaled a new strategy to combat PRSV. However, transgenic papaya resistant to PRSV isolated from Hawaii is not resistant to PRSV isolated from Thailand and other countries. Consequently, three independent Thai research groups: the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Plant Genetic Engineering Unit (BIOTEC) and Mahidol University, set out to use transgene technology to develop papaya resistant to Thai isolates of PRSV. All obtained resistant papaya plants, but testing the levels of resistance to PRSV in the field has been thwarted because of the moratorium on field trials launched by Thai government in 2001. Only small experimental fields for research purposes are permitted.