How do herbicide-resistant crops survive herbicide treatments?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

weeding — weed Weeds being removed by hand from a parsley patch.

Herbicide-resistant crops (HRCs) are genetically modified organisms engineered to survive exposure to specific chemical herbicides that would otherwise kill them.123

In the case of crops engineered for resistance to glyphosate, the plants are modified to carry a gene derived from bacteria. This gene encodes a version of the enzyme EPSP synthase that is insensitive to the herbicide.4

Normally, glyphosate works by inhibiting the plant's native EPSP synthase, which is essential for the synthesis of aromatic amino acids and proteins required for growth. By introducing the bacterial, glyphosate-insensitive enzyme, the engineered crops can continue their metabolic processes and survive even when the field is treated with the herbicide to control surrounding weeds.412