AI is often used for individual steps when planning genetic engineering experiments in plants. However, AI has already played an even more decisive role in the development of some NGT plants. One example is NGT poplars with reduced lignin content. In this instance, an AI model was used to design and evaluate various gene combinations for reducing the lignin content in the wood. Another example is herbicide-resistant rice, where AI was used to facilitate the transfer of particularly long gene segments.
NGTs have also been used to change the floral architecture of tomato and soy plants to enable pollination by AI-powered robots. Moreover, in 2025, it was demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to use a publicly available AI tool (ChatGPT 4o) to design a genetic blueprint for an insecticidal maize plant, which could subsequently be produced with new genetic engineering techniques.
Current databases show that scientists are also applying NGTs in many other species, including wild plants native to the EU, which can survive, reproduce and spread in the environment. The uncontrolled spread of NGT plants in these species can lead to new gene variants persisting in the environment for years, centuries, or even ‘forever’, and negatively impacting food production, ecosystems and native biodiversity (more about that in “Manipulated flowering in NGT plants: A crack in ecosystems“).
Many of the environmental risks associated with NGT plants have already been described in scientific literature (more about that in “A crack in creation? Release of NGT organisms may disrupt the ecosystems”). These include:
- negative effects on pollinators, plant pests and food webs;
- increased invasive potential;
- weakening of natural plant populations;
- spread of pathogens;
- yield depression;
- insect toxicity;
- unintended effects on soil organisms;
- endangerment of protected species.
Publication date / last update:
March 2026