Transgenic crops and their applications for sustainable agriculture and food security.

Abstract

The potential of transgenic crops to make major contributions to food security and agricultural sustainability worldwide is indisputable. One of the major advantages of transgenic technology is the fact that genes from any source can be accessed and introduced into target crops, facilitating the creation of improved varieties. Here, we review briefly the methodology available for generating transgenic crops and we discuss a number of target traits in the context of food security. Major objectives include: resistance to insect pests and tolerance to weeds; resistance to fungal, bacterial and viral diseases; tolerance to a range of abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, cold, hypoxia; improvement in yield and nutritional content; utilizing the plant cell's machinery as a factory to produce valuable recombinant proteins and metabolites, to name a few. The political dimension of transgenic crops is also discussed as this constitutes an inseparable element of their further deployment and utilization.