50 GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2017 THE BREEDING OF new varieties is more and more a matter of the use of molecular based breeding techniques. The classical crossing and selecting of plants, moved to marker assisted breeding, is where the crosses are checked on a molecular level to see if the desired traits are present in the cross. Today, even marker-driven breeding techniques are used, where on a molecular level, ‘varieties’ are cre- ated and only at the end of the process, a grow-out is organized for a final check and selection. In the mean time, the process to grant plant variety rights is still based on the same principles that applied when the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) was created in 1961; it speci- fies that a new variety needs to be Distinct, Uniform and Stable (DUS). Logically, the question is, ‘Is there is room for the use of molecular techniques in this DUS process?’ To answer this question, we have to look at the 1991 UPOV convention that says in Part 7: Distinctness: “The variety shall be deemed to be dis- tinct if it is clearly distinguishable from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge at the time of the filing of the application. ……” In this article, no mention is made of the techniques that are to be used to establish if a candidate variety is distinguishable from any variety of common knowledge. To study that, we have to look at the definition of variety in Part 1 of the said convention: “Variety” means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, whose group- ing, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of a breeder's right are fully met, can be: •  defined by the expression of the characteristics result- ing from a given genotype or combination of geno- types, •  distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expression of at least one of the said characteristics and •  considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged. This combination of articles is clear; the method to test A look at the upcoming paradigm shift in how we distinguish plant varieties. Kees van Ettekoven / European-Seed.com ISTHEREROOMFORBIO MOLECULARTECHNIQUES INTHEDUSPROCESS? DNA profiles are not sensitive to external environmental factors and are considered as an objective description of the genotype.