A bacterium called Agrobacterium tumefasciens is used to introduce forgein genes into plant cells producing GM crop plants.
Plants can be modified to be resistant to pests, diseases and herbicides, to increase shelf life, improve flavour, increase nutrient content or to be free from certain allergens.
This could be a solution to many global issues by reducing pollution from pesticides and alleviating world hunger.
Bt is a bacterial gene often inserted into crops so that the crops produce toxins that kill insects but are harmless to humans.
It's feared that GM crops could become 'super weeds' and research has shown that gene transfer occurs between GM crops and wild plants causing genetic pollution.
Genes such as the Bt gene could increase the rate of evolution in insects resulting in insecticide-resistant insects.
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