The stage was set for the next step of the engineering process: knocking out the trio of meiosis genes and activating the critical BABY BOOM gene within a single plant. NEWS In early summer, unusual pollinators swoop over rice fields in Texas and Arkansas. Khanday inserted this DNA package into the genome of a plant-infecting bacterium, a standard vehicle for genetically modifying plants. In the late 1990s, as genetic tools became more readily available, experts were optimistic they could identify the genes behind apomixis and deploy them in crops, creating clones that would bypass the genetic recombination that happens during plant sex, which shuffles away favorable gene combinations. [Extracted from the article]