A number of protein or DNA methods for detection of genetically modified organisms (GMO) are discussed in this review,including herbicide bioassays,Western blot,enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,Southern blot and polymerase chain reaction. Several new methods have been developed to detect genetically modified foods,such as capillary gel electrophoresis,near-infrared spectroscopy and microarray. Discussions were made on various detection methods in terms of their principle,advantage and disadvantage,application and problems.