Tracking genomic markers, as Keygene and Genetwister do, can speed up testing for disease resistance, but it still takes upwards of six years in field trials, and even then the trees are too young to bear fruit, which is the final test of an apple’s worth. At Wageningen’s Plant Research Institute, senior researcher Henk Schouten plucks out genes resistant to scab from wild apple varieties and inserts them directly into older cultivars. “This,” Schouten says, “is what we call Cis-genesis.”

“We now have a treasure box with increasing number of genes available just for Cis-genesis. We introduce just these wanted genes into our new apple cultivars—or in existing high-quality cultivars—without any unwanted genes, just making them directly resistant to scab.” 

 The same techniques can be used to alter other characteristics, such as color. Schouten mentions a specific gene called MYB 10 that was first identified by New Zealand researchers. The MYB 10 gene, he says, produces red leaves, roots, and flowers. “We’d like to have this gene in our well-tasting apples for two reasons: the level of coloration is higher, and it’s very health-promoting because it has an antioxidant capacity,” he says. He adds that if just the skin is red, there are smaller quantities of antioxidants, or what are generally known as a flavenoids. But if the whole apple is red, the antioxidant capacity will drastically increase. There’s another reason for having apples that are red to the core. “It also doesn’t brown as quickly when you slice it.”

At the moment, none of these apples is on the market, nor are there even any trees growing in test fields. Technically, they are seen as “transgenic” because current regulations make no distinction between “cisgenic” and “transgenic” plants: both have been “genetically engineered.”

The Dutch, led by the team at the Plant Research Institute, have petitioned the European Commission in Brussels to distinguish between the two since most of the opposition to genetic engineering is the mixing of species or incorporating certain viral proteins into plants. They argue that chemically and botanically, there is no difference between the hybrid produced through classical Mendelian crossing and through intra-species gene shifting. But diehards like France’s militant José Bové, who go around destroying European research plots, are unlikely to be persuaded.

All of this plant biotech is about much more than finding a prettier fruit that doesn’t brown when you slice it. Ton den Nijs, manager of the University’s plant breeding lab, says society has an important choice to make. It can continue to spray for scab for another 50 years. Or, he says, it can embrace the development of resistance genes that could safely eliminate the need for pesticides. “People say in case of trans-genesis you are introducing novel genes,” says den Nijs. “In case of cis-genics, we do not. We only use genes that are already in apple plants.”

 Beyond pesticide reduction, there are still larger issues at stake, a point raised by Keygene’s van Tunen. The lengthening of the global food supply chain is posing ever greater challenges, he says, noting that there are now some 50 cities in Asia that each has more than 10 million people. “Remember that in those cities you have to transport all the vegetables and fruits into the city and that can take a long time, from production site to city,” says van Tunen. “That’s where shelf life and disease resistance gets more and more important.”

 The big staple crops—wheat, corn, and soy—are also at risk as many are produced in Europe, the United States, and Brazil and must be shipped to Asia and Africa. “You know, it’s not only fruit that has to prevail a long time,” van Tunen says. “It’s also protecting grains against fungal rot.” After it is cut, lettuce will have to be better shielded from the ravages of oxidation on the edges of the leaves. “All of these kinds of things will be more important in the future,” says van Tunen.