Insect-resistant crops have been one of the major successes of applying plant genetic engineering technology to agriculture; cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) resistant to lepidopteran larvae (caterpillars) and maize (Zea mays) resistant to both lepidopteran and coleopteran larvae (rootworms) have become widely used in global agriculture and have led to reductions in pesticide usage and lower production costs (Toenniessen et al., 2003;Brookes and Barfoot, 2005).The source of the insecticidal toxins produced in commercial transgenic plants is the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Bt strains show differing specificities of insecticidal activity toward pests, and constitute a large reservoir of genes encoding insecticidal proteins, which are accumulated in the crystalline inclusion bodies produced by the bacterium on sporulation (Cry proteins, Cyt proteins) or expressed during bacterial growth (Vip proteins). The threedomain Cry proteins have been extensively studied; their mechanism of action involves a proteolytic activation step, which occurs in the insect gut after ingestion, followed by interaction of one or both of domains II and III with ''receptors'' on the surface of cells of the insect gut epithelium. This interaction leads to oligomerization of the protein, and domain I is then responsible for the formation of an open channel through the cell membrane . The resulting ionic leakage destroys the cell, leading to breakdown of the gut, bacterial proliferation, and insect death.However, not all pests are adequately targeted by the Bt toxins used at present, and there is still a need to develop solutions to specific problems, such as resistance to sap-sucking pests and pests of stored products. This Update will review some developments to the basic Bt strategy and selected alternative methods for engineering insect resistance.