Transgenics, pest management, and the environment

Genetic engineering of crop plants to confer resistance to insect pests off ers an environmental friendly method of crop protection, Impressive results have been obtained with the expression of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and other toxin genes in several crops. However, both exotic and plant-derived genes have some performance limitations, and there have been some failures in insect control through transgenic crops. The production and deployment o f transgenic crops for pest control need to address the issues related to i mpact of the transgenic crops on the insect pests, ecological cost of resis tance development, effects on the nontarget organisms, availability and dis tribution of the alternate host plants, and the potential for introgression of genes into the wild relatives of crops. There is a need for a more resp onsible public debate and better presentation of the benefits for a rationa l deployment of the genetically-transformed plants for sustainable crop pro duction.