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GM cotton being developed to resist pests

The Lucknow-based National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) is developing a genetically modified (GM) cotton for resisting the incidence of sucking pests, which Bt cotton has failed to encounter. "NBRI has been working for development of novel delta endotoxins and transgenic cotton for resistance to cotton bollworms and sucking pests. A chimeric and endotoxin gene Cry 1 EC was designed at NBRI to target a common Indian pest, Spodoptera litura. It has been deployed in several crop plants, including cotton, groundnut, tomato, and chickpea.

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