Who Could Have Pre-, No, Actually Worm Resistence To Bt Corn Predicted 20 Yrs Ago Is Here

[appal_jack]

4. Nonsense, Mike. And you should know better.

Bt was used as a spray by organic growers for more than 40 years without observable resistance increasing among target insect pests. Why? Because natural Bt has a very short persistence in the environment. Depending upon weather conditions, within 24-48 hours, the BT has degraded into carbon dioxide, water, etc.

Splice a Bt gene into a corn plant, on the other hand, and you wind up with something quite different. The Bt is in every single cell, all the time. Stems? Bt. Roots? Bt. Corn kernels? Bt. Even root exudates and pollen? Bt. This is NOTHING like an organic farmer using a Bt spray one to three times a season (probably rotating at least once in there to a pyrethrum or spinosad to further reduce resistance), which is why Bt resistance was NOT a problem for more than four decades prior to the widespread adoption of GMO crops.

And about that "matter of knowingly committing to a short term solution for a long term problem?" Funny how all the costs are borne by farmers (especially organic growers who are losing an important tool from an already quite limited repertoire), yet all the profits and other benefits accrue to Dow, Monsanto, Syngenta, etc. Funny how that works, eh?

I think you need to reexamine your bias here if you wish to retain a shred of credibility on the biologist / scientist front.

-app