CAN PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY BE USED FOR SPECIES CONSERVATION?

Plant biotechnology for conservation

Abstract

Biodiversity conservation, including plants, must be a priority due to the intrinsic importance of all living beings. From an anthropocentric and utilitarian point of view, it is evidently important to conservate plant species from which different products are obtained; nevertheless, there are less studied species that nowadays do not have any utility, but in the future, could be discovered to produce a useful compound or gene. Hence the importance of conserving all plant species. Ideally, entire ecosystems should be preserved, but it is necessary to develop other conservation strategies. One of them is the creation of in vitro plant germplasm, in other words, to keep specimens of each species in in vitro cultures, guarding them not only from overexploitation and habitat destruction, but also from changing and adverse environmental conditions, and even natural disasters.