Genomic Science Program
U.S. Department of Energy | Office of Science | Biological and Environmental Research Program

New Report: Overcoming Barriers in Plant Transformation: A Focus on Bioenergy Crops

Although 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the first transgenic plant, routine transformation of most plant genotypes remains elusive. Rapid systems to overexpress, interfere, or knock out genes—collectively defined in this report as “transformation and editing technologies”—are needed to understand plant gene function. This understanding in turn is crucial for efficiently developing new, sustainable, high-yielding, and climate-resilient crops to meet the growing demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel. In particular, the ability to apply transformation and editing technologies to bioenergy crops has remained largely unrealized. To address this opportunity, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research Program convened a workshop on September 18–20, 2023, to define transformation and editing needs and barriers focused on bioenergy crops.

The report describing the workshop findings is now available.