when was the first genetically modified plant produced in a laboratory
Genetically modified crops The first genetically modified crop plant was produced in 1982, an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant.[39] The first field trials occurred in France and the USA in 1986, when tobacco plants were engineered for herbicide resistance.[40] In 1987, Plant Genetic Systems (Ghent, Belgium), founded by Marc Van Montagu and Jeff Schell, was the first company to genetically engineer insect-resistant (tobacco) plants by incorporating genes that produced insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).[41]