As more and more genetically modified (GM) crops are approved for commercialization and planting, safety issues of GM crops have become hot topics worldwide. For both regulatory and academic purposes, development of rapid, economic and effective on-site detection methods for GM components is indispensible. Up to now, the most effective and sensitive techniques used for GMO detection are based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR method needs expensive, heavy instruments and gel electrophoresis, therefore, it is commonly used in laboratory test, and unsuitable for on-site detection. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), an isothermal nucleic acid amplification technique, has been extensively used in many areas such as food safety and clinic diagnosis. Advantageous characteristics of LAMP, such as high specificity and sensitivity, simple operation, low cost, eye visualization, particularly free of special equipment, renders it with high potential to be used for GMO on-site detection. In this review, we summarized current status of the application of LAMP in GMO detection, and discussed possible improvements needed for its adaptability regarding to on-site GMO detection. Hopefully, the information present here would facilitate the practical risk assessment of GMO.