Wheat.
GM wheat is not currently grown commercially anywhere in the world. The planned introduction of GM wheat into the US and Canada has been put off for the time being. Wheat breeders may use genetic engineering to combat fungal disease. Fungal diseases not only cause significant yield losses, but also lead to the contamination of wheat products with toxins.

Suggested herbicide resistant GM wheat.
In 2002, Monsanto, the world's leading agro-biotech enterprise, submitted an application to the United States and Canada for the approval of an herbicide resistant, genetically modified wheat cultivar. Two years later, Monsanto withdrew its application. Many farmers feared that their products would be rejected by markets in Europe and Asia, where views toward GMOs are more skeptical. Concerns about export markets overpowered potential advantages offered by herbicide resistance. According to Monsanto, herbicide resistant wheat would have led to reductions in herbicide use corresponding to reduced expenditures on machines and labour. Monsanto predicted that farmers would enjoy profit increases of five to fifteen percent.

Fungal diseases can make wheat toxic.
Septoria, Fusarium, and Common bunt are fungal diseases that often cause problems for wheat growers. These fungal diseases can spread rapidly when conditions are mild and moist. One disease that poses particularly serious problems is Fusarium. Infected ears will either fail to produce grains or will produce grains that are small and stunted. Problems with Fusarium, however, don’t end there. A crop affected by Fusarium infection can contain dangerous substances that can impact the health of humans and livestock. Certain strains of Fusarium produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins is a general term for poisonous compounds produced by fungi, which are thought to protect germinating spores from microbial infection. Mycotoxins remain in food during processing and can lead to chronic and acute diseases. At high concentrations, they can cause nausea and vomiting. Certain Fusarium toxins are implicated in cancer and have been known to affect hormonal balances. Right now, there is no efficient way of stopping Fusarium infection. Although management strategies using resistant cultivars, crop rotation, and chemical fungicides are helpful, they are still not enough to stop the disease when conditions are conducive to infection. Fusarium is responsible for yield losses and mycotoxin contamination in wheat grown around the world. Scientists are currently developing genetic approaches to conferring resistance to fungal diseases and are testing their effectiveness on wheat. Field trials are underway in many countries, including countries in Europe, to find out if experimental GM wheat plants are actually resistant to fungal infection.

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