Genetically Modified Crops-Boon or Bane?

Agricultural crops in which the DNA has been modified using genetic engineering techniques (addition, deletion, or manipulationof a single trait in an organism to create a desired change) are referred as Genetically modified (GMO) crops.Geneticallymodified crops possess one or more useful traits, that normally does not exist in the plant in nature. Transgenic technology has been used to increase crop yields and improve their nutrition, reduce the use of pesticide and herbicides by making them tolerant, insect resistant, reduce CO2 emissions, and decrease the cost of crop production. However, since the first GM crop produced, thedebate of using/not using GMO crops is ongoing. A number of concerns like toxicity and allergenicity to animals and humanbeings, potential environmental risks, such as chances of gene flow, adverse effects on non-target organisms, evolution of resistance in weeds and insects etc. have been the major roadblocks in its application. In this review, we present a comprehensiveupdate on the current status of the genetically modified (GMO) crops under cultivation. We also discuss the issues affectingwidespread adoption of transgenic GM crops and comment upon the recent tools and techniques developed to address some of these concerns. Keywords: Genetically modified crops (GMO), Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)