Insect pests often feed on crop plants in farmers' fields. To address this problem, scientists have developed transgenic crop plants that produce their own pest-killing chemicals. In nature, these chemicals are produced by certain bacteria.

Which of the following actions was MOST LIKELY involved in the development of the transgenic crop plants?

A. Sections of the genome of the host plant were spliced and removed.
B. DNA from the host plant was inserted into the genome of bacteria.
C. Recombinant DNA was inserted into the genome of the host plant.
D. The host plant was artificially crossed with an insect pest.