Selective Breeding: Traditional plant breeding involves selecting and crossbreeding plants with desirable traits to enhance specific characteristics.
Genetic Modification (GM): Genetic engineering allows for the direct manipulation of an organism's DNA, introducing specific genes to confer desired traits.
Resistance to Pests: Genetic engineering can enhance plant resistance to pests by introducing genes that produce toxins harmful to insects or by enhancing natural defense mechanisms.
Disease Resistance: Plants can be genetically modified to resist diseases through the introduction of genes that code for proteins with antifungal or antibacterial properties.
Improved Nutritional Content: Genetic engineering can enhance the nutritional content of crops by introducing genes responsible for producing essential vitamins, minerals, or other nutrients.
Drought Tolerance: Genetic modification can confer drought tolerance to plants by introducing genes that enhance water-use efficiency or enable plants to thrive in water-limited conditions.
Herbicide Resistance: Some genetically modified plants are engineered to be resistant to specific herbicides, allowing for effective weed control without harming the crop.
Accelerated Breeding: Genetic engineering techniques, such as marker-assisted breeding, can accelerate the traditional breeding process by identifying and selecting desirable traits more efficiently.