Journey of genetically modified crops: Status and prospects

Background and Objective: Agricultural biotechnology has major concern with genetic improvement of crops to increase their yields or efficiency, genetic characterization & conservation of plant genetic resources and disease diagnosis. Advance biotechnological techniques help in crop improvement as well as crop productivity. The introgression of different traits into crops was preceded through selection and by rapid development in plant breeding in the 20th century. Transgenic technology helps to develop genetically modified crops which are resistant to abiotic and biotic stresses. Apart from this, the different transgenic crops are commercially released, but some of them are not yet released with traits with special reference to bio-fortification, phytoremediation and production of nutritional value i.e., rice with significant level of zinc and iron nutrients and bananas with vitamins.

Conclusion: The review highlights the present status and future prospects of genetic modified crops and model framework for commercialization need for sustainable agriculture. Apart from that recent technological advancement in the field of genome editing using engineered nucleases has provided new opportunities for development and commercialization of genetic modified plants.