Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Encoding technical information in GM organisms

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 224–226 (2003)Cite this article

The recent decision of the European Union to curb the moratorium on transgenic plants1 is conditional on the introduction of extra rules to ensure both the traceability of genetically modified (GM) organisms and the labeling of GM organism-derived products2. Currently, most detection protocols rely on the detection of signature sequences (e.g., antibiotic-resistance markers or promoters) that are not unique to particular GM products and that may pose environmental and health concerns—although such concerns remain unproven. Here, we propose a standardized procedure whereby nontranscribed DNA-encoded technical information can be inserted next to a transgene in a recombinant organism's genome to allow rapid product identification. The message would be based on a non-genetic code or encryption protocol, would be biologically “neutral”, would be easily retrieved and read, and would have sufficient capacity for storing the descriptive information required. We suggest the procedure could be adopted as a universal coding standard for GM organisms.

Coding protocol or languages

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: An artificial triplet-based code for specifying technical information in DNA.
Figure 2: An example of a technical information message shows a variable region flanked by conserved sequences (gray boxes).
Figure 3: One possible approach for upgrading the technical information message (conserved sequences, dark gray boxes; variable region, light gray boxes) consists of amplifying the entire plasmid with primers with 5′ extensions (shown in orange and green).

References

  1. Schiermeier, Q. Nature 409, 967 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Dorey, E. Nat. Biotechnol. 19, 795 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Pease, A.C. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 5022–5026 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Tilliv, S.V. & Mirzabekov, A.D. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 12, 53–58 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Von Neumann, J. & Burks, A.W. Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata (Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 1966).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Thomas, R.F. (ed.) Virgil: The Georgics (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. senior scientist at Icon Genetics AG, Maximilianstr. 38/40, Munich, 80539, Germany

    Sylvestre Marillonnet

  2. research director at Icon Genetics AG, Maximilianstr. 38/40, Munich, 80539, Germany

    Victor Klimyuk

  3. chief executive officer at Icon Genetics AG, Maximilianstr. 38/40, Munich, 80539, Germany

    Yuri Gleba

Authors
  1. Sylvestre Marillonnet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Victor Klimyuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuri Gleba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuri Gleba.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Marillonnet, S., Klimyuk, V. & Gleba, Y. Encoding technical information in GM organisms. Nat Biotechnol 21, 224–226 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0303-224

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0303-224

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing