- Nigeria has become the first country to approve open cultivation of genetically modified(GM) Bt cowpea.
- Bt Cowpea is pest- resistant and can help combat malnutrition rates, especially in children.
- However,activists claimed that the transgene Cry1Ab which is there in Bt cowpea can be toxic for human liver cells and can also alter the immune systems of lab animals.
- Genetically modified crops are plants in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination.
