Updates on Global Status of Transgenic and Genome-Edited Crops

The rapid growth of the world’s population poses a significant threat to sustainable food and health security, with an anticipated population projection of nine billion by 2050. Addressing the urgent demand for food and the numerous environmental and biological pressures that threaten agricultural productivity is crucial. Genetic engineering through transgenic technology has emerged as a key option in addressing these issues across different crops. This technology enables the introduction of desirable traits, including pest and disease resistance, herbicide tolerance, salinity, and drought stress tolerance, as well as enhancing the contents of the nutrients, protein, minerals, alkaloids, and postharvest quality characteristics. Manipulation of plants for metabolic traits improvement, production of therapeutic compounds, edible vaccines, and phytoremediation is also made possible using genetic engineering. Since 1996, approximately 2641.2 billion hectares of land have been utilized for biotech crop production. Developing nations account for about 54% of the global biotech market, while industrialized countries represent 46%. In 2019, biotech crops were cultivated across 29 countries, covering up to 190.4 million hectares (Mha) of land. The leading producers of biotech crops in 2019 were the United states (71.5 Mha), Brazil (52.8 Mha), Argentina (24 Mha), Canada (12.5 Mha), and India (11.9 Mha). This chapter aims to provide an overview of genetically modified crops (GM crops) as a viable option for ensuring sustainable food and health security. We believe that this chapter will support researchers in analyzing existing regulations related to cultivating GM crops and exploring recent advancements in the field.