The first transgenic crop with a modified seed composition a lauricoil rapeseed was cultivated for commercial use in 1995, and many additional transgenic rapeseed varieties, expressing a variety of novel seed&s or grateins, are under development. Research advances in Arabidopsis molecular genetics, and the emerging Brass&Arabidopsis genome relatedness, will enable the radical manipulation of many key agronomic traits in rapeseed, ranging from greatly improved seedoil yield and quality, to improwed disease resistance, pod shattering and canopy architecture. Many of these advances will be directly applicable to other oil crops, including highyielding tropical perennials such as oil palm.