The development of transgenic cottons expressing endotoxin proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (BT-cotton) offers a unique opportunity to reduce inputs of chemical insecticides and create ecologically sound programs of IPM without sacrificing crop production capabilities. Numerous scientific questions, including the highly debated issues of environmental safety of genetically engineered plants and the likely development of pest populations resistant to genetically engineered crops, need additional research and consideration by the scientific community. However, the rather unique opportunities for improving cotton IPM programs through utilization of this innovative, selective method of delivering an insecticidal toxin to target pests need immediate attention and consideration by cotton entomologists. In a sense, BT-cotton combines the highly curative activity of an efficacious insecticide with the environmental preservation traits of host plant resistance. Reductions in the use of insecticide seem likely with implementation of this technology in some or most regions of the U.S. Cotton Belt, but the amount of reduction varies from region to region and is difficult to quantify without more experimentation. In the southern U.S., insecticide use in cotton has been historically influenced by the presence of boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis grandis) and insecticide resistant tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens). The Boll Weevil Eradication Program has eliminated boll weevil as a key pest of cotton in much of the southeastern U.S., and the program is expanding into Texas and the Midsouth in the next few years. The combined influence of boll weevil eradication and commercial release of BT-cotton represents a major historical opportunity to produce cotton with reduced inputs of insecticide.