LIFE BOX 16.1. TANIYA DHILLONTaniya Dhillon, Graduate Student, Ohio State UniversityTaniya DhillonI havealwayslivedinanenvironmentvery
much influenced by agriculture—I was
born and raised in Punjab, a major
agricultural state of India, and frequently
visited my father’s family that still lives
in a village and practices farming.
Agricultural science became a part of my
family because both my parents worked
as professors in Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU). In school, I enjoyed
studying biology more than mathematics.
However,sinceIdidnothaveadesireto
become a doctor of humans or animals,
I decided to study the biology of plants.
I started my Bachelors in Crop Science
at PAU and studied a range of subjects
related to field crops, livestock, poultry,
economics of farm production and
extension education.
My interest developed specifically in gen-
etics and biotechnology. I was amazed
how a small DNA molecule, invisible to
the naked eye, was the essence of life. Istill remember the day when I actually
got to see this molecule after following
the procedure for DNA extraction from
wheat leaves. It was almost impossible to
believe that a colorless, thread-like entity
defined the morphology, structure, color,
behavior and functionality of each indi-
vidual. It was fascinating that this thread-
like structure was composed of even
smaller units or nucleotides, the arrange-
ment of which determined the uniqueness
of an individual.
Since biotechnology and molecular
biology were not very extensively
taught at my university, I started
looking into US universities for pursu-
ing a masters degree. With some luck
and some hard work, I was accepted in
the department of Horticulture and
Crop Science at Ohio State University.
I currently work in a laboratory that
focuses on plant transformation.
Biotechnology has emerged as a very
fast approach for genotype modifi-
cations/alterations. Several methods of
gene introduction have been standar-
dized (see Chapter 11). However, the
biology of a plant is highly complex.
Once a gene is introduced, it does not
always have a uniform expression and
this can happen due to a number of
factors. In simple terms, the plant some-
times senses the introduced gene as an
attack by a biological entity and can
“silence” the transgene, which means
that transcription or translation of the
transgene is suppressed. However,
certain genes from plant viruses can be
used to stabilize the transgene
expression. My research project involves
the evaluation of six such viral genes or
“suppressors of silencing” to stabilize
transgene expression. But the introduc-
tion of viral genes in a plant can also
lead to developmental abnormalities in
plants. At present, I’m analyzing the
structural differences recovered in366 THE FUTURE OF PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY