Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Using Genetically Modified Plants

Himani Kulshrest ¹, Divya Gupta ², Dr. Pratik Durgawale ³, Mrs. Swati Udugade ⁴, Amol Bhilare ⁵

¹Assistant Professor,School of Allied Health Sciences,Noida International University,Uttar Pradesh 203201,India. Email :himani.kulshrestha@niu.edu.in
²Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics, Arya College of Pharmacy,Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Email :divya.gupta@aryajaipur.com
³Asst. Professor, Krishna Institute of Science and Technology, Krishna Vishwa Vidyapeeth “Deemed to be University”, Taluka-Karad, Dist-Satara, Pin-415 539, Maharashtra, India Email :pratikpdurgawale@gmail.com
⁴Asso. Professor, Dept. of Pharmaceutics, Krishna Institute of Pharmacy, Krishna Vishwa Vidyapeeth “Deemed to be University”, Taluka-Karad, Dist-Satara, Pin-415 539, Maharashtra, India Email :swatiudugade@gmail.com
⁵Assistant Professor Department of Computer Engineering, Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune, Maharashtra, 411037 Email :amol.bhilare@vit.edu

ABSTRACT

Phytoremediation, which uses plants to get rid of, stabilise, or break down environmental pollutants, has become a long-lasting and inexpensive way to deal with heavy metal pollution. However, plants' natural ability to take in and get rid of pollutants isn't always enough to clean up highly polluted areas. Changing plant metabolic routes, metal transport systems, and stress resistance through genetic engineering is a potential way to make phytoremediation work better. This article talks about the progress made in genetically modified (GM) plants that are used to remove heavy metals. It focusses on important changes like increasing the levels of metal transporters, chelators, and antioxidant enzymes. Transgenic methods have made it easier for plants to take in, store, and get rid of metals. This has greatly increased the ability of plants like Arabidopsis thaliana, Brassica juncea, and Populus spp. to clean up pollution. Adding genes from bacteria and fungi to plant genomes has also made them better at handling metals and building up large amounts of them. Even with these improvements, problems like biosafety worries, environmental risks, and rules that make it hard to use on a big scale still exist. For GM plants to be widely used in environmental clean-up, these problems must be solved through risk studies, controlled field trials, and legal frameworks. This research looks at all the latest changes to genes, how they affect heavy metal removal from plants, and what the future might hold for making phytoremediation work better. Using synthetic biology and CRISPR to change genomes together could help us make plants that are better at cleaning up pollution. In the end, genetically engineered plants offer a practical, scalable, and environmentally friendly way to reduce heavy metal pollution in water and land.

Keywords: Phytoremediation, Heavy Metal Contamination, Genetically Modified Plants, Transgenic Approaches, Environmental Remediation, CRISPR Genome Editing

How to cite this article: Kulshrest H, Gupta D, Durgawale P, Udugade S, Bhilare A., Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Using Genetically Modified Plants .Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(1s): 1-16; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.1-16