The transgenic MS8 plants do not produce viable pollen grains and cannot self-pollinate. In order to restore fertility in the hybrid progeny, line MS8 must be pollinated by a modified plant containing a fertility restorer gene. The resultant hybrid seed derived from the cross generates hybrid plants that produce pollen and are completely fertile.

The male-sterile trait was introduced in MS1 by inserting the barnase gene, isolated from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, a common soil bacterium that is frequently used as a source for industrial enzymes. The barnase gene encodes for a ribonuclease enzyme (RNAse) that is expressed only in the tapetum cells of the pollen sac during anther development. The RNAse affects RNA production, disrupting normal cell functioning and arresting early anther development, thus leading to male sterility.

MS8 was also engineered to express tolerance to glufosinate ammonium, the active ingredient in phosphinothricin herbicides (Basta®, Rely®, Finale®, and Liberty®). Glufosinate chemically resembles the amino acid glutamate and acts to inhibit an enzyme, called glutamine synthetase, which is involved in the synthesis of glutamine. Essentially, glufosinate acts enough like glutamate, the molecule used by glutamine synthetase to make glutamine, that it blocks the enzyme's usual activity. Glutamine synthetase is also involved in ammonia detoxification. The action of glufosinate results in reduced glutamine levels and a corresponding increase in concentrations of ammonia in plant tissues, leading to cell membrane disruption and cessation of photosynthesis resulting in plant withering and death.