Slashdot Mirror
Planting GMOs Kills So Many Bugs That It Helps Non-GMO Crops (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: One of the great purported boons of GMOs is that they allow farmers to use fewer pesticides, some of which are known to be harmful to humans or other species. Bt corn, cotton, and soybeans have been engineered to express insect-killing proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, and they have indeed been successful at controlling the crops' respective pests. They even protect the non-Bt versions of the same crop that must be planted in adjacent fields to help limit the evolution of Bt resistance. But new work shows that Bt corn also controls pests in other types of crops planted nearby, specifically vegetables. In doing so, it cuts down on the use of pesticides on these crops, as well.
Entomologists and ecologists compared crop damage and insecticide use in four agricultural mid-Atlantic states: New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Their data came from the years before Bt corn was widespread (1976-1996) and continued after it was adopted (1996-2016). They also looked at the levels of the pests themselves: two different species of moths, commonly known as the European corn borer and corn earworm. They were named as scourges of corn, but their larvae eat a number of different crops, including peppers and green beans. After Bt corn was planted in 1996, the number of moths captured for analysis every night in vegetable fields dropped by 75 percent. The drop was a function of the percentage of Bt corn planted in the area and occurred even though moth populations usually go up with temperature. So the Bt corn more than counteracted the effect of the rising temperatures we've experienced over the quarter century covered by the study.
Entomologists and ecologists compared crop damage and insecticide use in four agricultural mid-Atlantic states: New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Their data came from the years before Bt corn was widespread (1976-1996) and continued after it was adopted (1996-2016). They also looked at the levels of the pests themselves: two different species of moths, commonly known as the European corn borer and corn earworm. They were named as scourges of corn, but their larvae eat a number of different crops, including peppers and green beans. After Bt corn was planted in 1996, the number of moths captured for analysis every night in vegetable fields dropped by 75 percent. The drop was a function of the percentage of Bt corn planted in the area and occurred even though moth populations usually go up with temperature. So the Bt corn more than counteracted the effect of the rising temperatures we've experienced over the quarter century covered by the study.
Oh so a GMO with built in pesticide, allows farmers to use less pesticide but somehow we end up eating more pesticide, exactly what the fuck are they bragging about ;D.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Indeed. In insects, the Bt toxins cut holes in the insects' guts and cause them to die. Supposedly, Bt doesn't do the same in humans. Perhaps it doesn't kill us right off the bat, but I suspect it still does some damage to our guts. I am very leery of eating popcorn nowadays because it seems to irritate my guts quite a bit. Which is a shame, because I loved popcorn as a child (back before GMO corn existed).
The whole "gluten free" diet craze and celiac disease may be more of an allergy to genetically modified wheat than gluten, in my opinion. Corn, wheat, and soybeans were some of the first crops to be genetically modified.
This article seems to be slanted toward GMO crops being a good thing. Reducing pesticide sprays SOUNDS like a good thing, until you realize that the GMO plants and produce are pesticides themselves, inside and out. You can NOT wash GMO produce off to reduce your intake of the built-in pesticide. The pesticide is grown by the plant itself, inside and throughout the vegetables you are supposed to eat.
Back in the pre-GMO days, sprayed pesticides could be washed off. Sprayed pesticides are primarily concentrated on the OUTSIDE of vegetables. Husks and pod shells are typically discarded and protect our food from being contaminated by pesticides. It was more labor intensive for the farmers, sure, but the food was likely healthier for consumers.
GMO corn kills leftists.
...is entirely natural and non-toxic to anything except for a few specific species of insects.
allegedly