New Technologies for Insect-Resistant and Herbicice-Tolerant Plants

The advent of modern molecular biology and recombinant DNA technology has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of insect-resistant (IR) and herbicide-tolerant (HT) plant varieties, with great economic benefits for farmers. Nevertheless, the high selection pressure generated by control strategies for weed and insect populations has led to the evolution of herbicide and pesticide resistance. In the short term, the development of new techniques or the improvement of existing ones will provide further instruments to counter the appearance of resistant weeds and insects and to reduce the use of agro-chemicals. In this review, we examine some of the most promising new technologies for developing IR and HT plants, such as genome editing and antisense technologies.