Conclusion
Genetically modified crops are often associated with multinationals and large scale cultivation. The story of the GM Opapayademonsrates that this does not necessarily always have to be the case. The HawaiianGMO papayawas developedby the public sector and the intellectual property rights were transferred to the local papayaindustry. The GMO papayahas been cultivated since 1998 to deal with the papayaringspotvirus, a pathogen that does not just cause serious losses in yield but can also make commercial papayacultivationimpossible. Thanks to the use of GMO papayascultivation has been able to continue on Hawaii. This success story inspired many papayaproducing countries to look for a similar solution to deal with local papayaviruses. Until now virus resistant GMO papayasare only being cultivated in Hawaiiand Chinabut more countries are ready to make use of biotechpapayasin the fight against the papayaringspot virus.