Some crops are protected from viruses by disease-resistance genes. Plants carrying these genes are identified by plant breeders and refined as new varie ties for use in agricul ture through a lengthy crossing programme. However, the appro priate resist ance genes are not always avail able and many crops are susceptible to virus disease. To protect these susceptible crops there is a promising ne...

In recent years there has been a tremendous increase in the application of transgenic crop for the production and development of variety of commercially valuable biological molecules for the purpose of human and animal healthcare. Intriguingly, recent advancement made transgenic crops (as a whole and cell culture systems) as a melting pot or biological factories for the production of large-scal...

Future food security in Sub-Saharan Africa requires enhancement of its crop production. Transgenic crops with a poverty focus can enhance harvests and are available for staples such as cooking bananas and plantains. One constraint is optimisation of national biosafety processes to support rapid and safe uptake of such beneficial crops. Africa needs streamlined regulation supporting deployment o...

Sayyed et al. (Ecology Letters (2003) 6: 167-169) hypothesized that insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins produced by transgenic crops could have nutritionally favorable effects that increase the fitness of resistant insects eating such crops. This idea was based on increased pupal weight of resistant larvae of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), fed leaf discs treated externa...

Transgenic crops, a new product of agricultural biotechnology has its own share of environmental risks and benefits. Present agricultural management practices and new ecosystems have their own impacts on the environment and further any additional negative effect of transgenic crops may mitigate their positive impacts as well as increase the background value of negative impacts due to new agricu...

Plant disease control is entering an exciting period during which transgenic plants showing improved resistance to pathogenic viruses, bacteria, fungi and insects are being developed. This review summarizes the first successful attempts to engineer fungal resistance in crops, and highlights two promising approaches. Biotechnology provides the promise of new integrated disease management strateg...

The effects of transgenic compounds on non-target organisms remain poorly understood, especially in native insect species. Morphological changes (e.g., changes in body size and shape) may reflect possible responses to environmental stressors, like transgenic toxins. The dung beetle Canthon quinquemaculatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) is a non-target species found in transgenic crops. We evaluate...

Since transgenic, bromoxynil-resistant cotton and glufosinate-resistant canola were introduced in 1995, planting of transgenic herbicide-resistant crops has grown substantially, revolutionizing weed management where they have been available. Before 1995, several commercial herbicide-resistant crops were produced by biotechnology through selection for resistance in tissue culture. However, non-t...