Plant biotechnology: Future perspectives

Plant biotechnology has made significant strides in the past 15 years encompassing within its fold the spectacular developments in plant molecular biology and genetic engineering. Some of the most vexing problems faced in agricultural ecosystems could be solved with the introduction of transgenic crops endowed with traits for insect pest resistance, herbicide tolerance and resistance to viral diseases. Attention is now being focussed on the development of transgenic plants having industrial, economic, pharmaceutical, nutritional and environmental importance. In the next millennium, crops will serve as factories for the synthesis of valuable metabolites and organic compounds. Agronomically important characters, such as drought tolerance, efficiency in photosynthesis, nutrient use and nitrogen fixation will be manipulated in the next century to enhance the genetic and physiological potential of the crops. Recent developments in the genome sequencing of Arabidopsis, rice and maize will have far reaching implications for future agriculture. Structural and functional genomics of plant species will virtually revolution ise the complexion of agricultural biotechnology as well as human health care. It is imperative that the developing world adopts these fast-changing technologies soon and harness their unprecedented potential for the benefit of the mankind.