英国很重视抗病基因转移的研究。认为遗传工程近期最有希望的实践之一,是控制基因使其对致病微生物或物质具有抗性。不用植物基因,而利用病毒作为抗原是当前研究的新课题。在剑桥的作物育种研究所有两位科学家,以研究利用细菌和根癌土壤杆菌把抗病基因转移到烟草、番茄和马铃薯等作物上,使其免疫。在韦尔斯伯恩的国家蔬菜研究站,一直在研究番茄上的烟草花叶病毒和豆类作物上的菜豆花叶病毒的抗性基因。目前已取得进展的,如已找到确定在园艺条件下 Britain attaches great importance to the study of resistance gene transfer. One of the most promising recent advances in genetic engineering is the control of genes to make them resistant to pathogenic microorganisms or substances. No plant genes, and the use of viruses as antigens is a new topic of current research. Two scientists at the Crop Breeding Institute in Cambridge are investigating the use of bacteria and Agrobacterium tumefaciens to transfer disease-resistance genes to crops such as tobacco, tomatoes and potatoes to immunize them. At the National Vegetable Research Station in Wellsborn, the resistance genes of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus on tomato and the bean mosaic virus on legumes have been studied. Progress has been made so far, as has been found to be identified under horticultural conditions