 The trait to be introduced is not present in

the germplasm (genetic resources) of the

crop

 The trait is very difficult to improve by

conventional breeding methods

 It will take a very long time to introduce

and/or improve such trait in the crop by
conventional methods
 Developing produce that stays fresh longer
 Developing virus- and insect-resistant crops
 Developing herbicide-tolerant crops
 Improving the nutritional quality of crops
 Manufacturing industrially important plant
substances/materials
 Developing novel ornamental plants
 Resistant to
European (and Asian)
corn borer
European corn
borer larva feeding on
 Transformed with the a non-GM corn

toxin gene (cry1Ab)

from bacterium
Bacillus thuringiensis
 Produces higher amounts of
amylopectin and reduced
amounts of amylose

 Transformed with an antisense

to the granule bound starch
synthase (gbss) gene
 leads to a decrease in amylose
content and an increase in
amylopectin content
 Resistant to glyphosate,
an active ingredient of
herbicides
 1st approach:
Overproduction of
EPSPS (5-
enolpyruvylshikimate-3-
phosphate synthase)
 2nd approach:
transformation with a
mutant EPSPS gene
from Agrobacterium
 Grains contain Β-carotene
(provitamin A)

 Transformed with two Β-

carotene synthesis
genes:
 psy (phytoene synthase)
from daffodil
 crt1 (phytoene desaturase)
from Erwinia uredovora (a
soil bacterium)
 Seed contains high lauric
and myristic acid levels

 Transformed with a
thioesterase (TE) gene
from the California bay
tree (Umbellularia
californica)
 Resistant to PRSV

 Transformed with the

coat protein gene of
the Papaya Ringspot
Virus (PRSV)
 Transformed with an
antisense to the
polygalacturonase gene

 Polygalacturonase :
enzyme that degrades
polygalacturonic acid in
the cell walls and results
in the softening of fruit
Transformed with genes that function together in the biosynthesis of the pigment
delphinidin , which generally produces the blue color in flowers
 Higher crop yields

 Reduced farm costs

 Increased farm profit

 Improvement in health and the environment

 The danger of unintentionally introducing
allergens and other anti-nutrition factors in
foods
 The likelihood of transgenes escaping from
cultivated crops into wild relatives
 The potential for pests to evolve resistance to
the toxins produced by GM crops
 The risk of these toxins affecting non-target
organisms
 Comparing GM products with their traditional
(non-GM) counterpart that has an
established history of safe use

 Only the starting point in the biosafety

assessment procedure

 Comparison may include an evaluation of the

same risk factors established for the
counterpart