Insects Develop Resistance To Engineered Crops

[phantom power]

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Genetically modified crops containing two insecticidal proteins in a single plant efficiently kill insects. But when crops engineered with just one of those toxins grow nearby, insects may more rapidly develop resistance to all the insect-killing plants, report Cornell University researchers.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050618160339.htm

[havocmom]

1. Once again, Nature swats Monsanto,

the company that just doesn't learn it isn't the boss of the world.

[havocmom]

2. Is this gonna turn out like our over use of antibiotics fostering the

evolution of super bugs? Ah, the law of Unintended Consequences rears its impish head. Corporations seem to be able to twist every law to their own benefit, save that one.

[pie]

3. Children playing with matches and gasoline

Didn't take very long for Mother Nature to reset the playing field.
I hope we take a time out on this endeavor.
Moving way too fast.

[phantom power]

6. Actually, their result is an approach to avoiding that problem.

Natural selection can climb a local gradient very efficiently, but if you force a species to attempt two gradients simultaneously, well that's much harder. Understanding what evolution is good at, and not good at, will be the key to undertaking these kinds of projects successfully. There have been some similar results with microbes, and the next generation of antibiotics will be much harder for bacteria to evolve immunities to. Provided they don't kill us all first.

[NNadir]

7. As I understand there are vancomycin, methocillin, and oxazolidone

resistant bacteria already, although these drugs are mechanistically different than other antibiotic classes..

The fastest evolving species are those with the shortest generation time.

Most anti-viral drugs have resistant strains within a few years of introduction. People get around this problem, of course, with "cocktails," but often even this type of therapy fails ultimately in many cases. Viruses of course, mutate quickly, since many lack transcription repair mechanisms. (HIV is famous for exactly this property.)

I suspect that the development of pathogen resistance will always be with us. There will always be a subset of infections for which there will be no cure. It is unsurprising that there are already resistant insects. Insects breed prolifically and quickly. Many generations pass within a few years.

[phantom power]

8. Certain parts of a genome are more "evolvable" than others.

We are now beginning to learn which parts are which. It is possible to design antibiotics such that evolving resistance requires changes to certain genes that aren't "easy" to modify: any changes are likely to result in an unviable organism. It is probably also possible to generate pairs of antibiotics, such that resistance to one implies vulnerability to others. However, we're just beginning to explore such techniques.

Viruses are a harder case. We're faster than ever at identifying new strains, and developing vaccines. I expect that eventually we can become even faster yet, but who can say?

Insects evolve slower than bacteria and viruses, since they reproduce more slowly. But they're still pretty fast. In any case, the technique of designing multiple insectisides such that adapting to the set is far harder than adapting to any one of them is likely to be very useful, just as in the case for antibiotics.

All strategies are temporary, but there should be a lot of room for improvement, as we gain more detailed knowledge of genomics and evolution. Just the knowledge that all victories are temporary is itself helpful. Hopefully, we will never be as complacent as we once were.

[WhollyHeretic]

4. If only there was some way to have seen this coming...

oh wait, a sh!tload of people saw this coming. The only thing we don't know is what other affects this is going to have (as someone else mentioned the law of unintended consequences). These companies can be so dumb sometimes I don't know how they take a crap without flushing themselves down the toilet.

[fed-up]

5. Background Materials on Genetically Engineered Food & Crops

http://organicconsumers.org/ge/bck.cfm

*Genetically Engineered Crops and Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Nine Years, 2004* Charles M. Benbrook. Reveals that farmers now use more pesticides on the top three genetically engineered (GE) crops--corn, soybeans, and cotton--than on conventional varieties. Predicts that the intensity of herbicide use on GE crops is not likely to subside in the near future because of the popularity of herbicide tolerant (HT) varieties (tolerant to glyphosate), the limited supply of seeds for non-HT varieties, and increasingly aggressive pesticide industry campaigns targeting farmers growing HT crops. Available as a free download at http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/biotechnology/page.cfm?pageID=154
2. Contact Union of Concerned Scientists, 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02238-9105; phone [phone]; fax [phone]; website http://www.ucsusa.org/.


*Control Through Contamination: US Forcing GMO Corn and Free Trade on Mexico and Central America, 2003* S'ra DeSantis. Looks at the dangers genetically engineered crops and foods pose to human health, the environment and farming communities. Also focuses on the ways that free trade agreements force GMOs (genetically modified organisms) into Mexico and Central America. 28 pages. Available online as a free download at http://www.asej.org/index.php?name=home&ID=59. Contact ISE Biotechnology Project, Northeast Resistance Against Genetic Engineering, 1118 Maple Hill Road, Plainfield, VT 05667; phone [phone]; email [e-mail]; website http://www.nerage.org/.


*Status of crop biotechnologies in Developing Countries - FAO report, 2003* Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Contains an on-line searchable database called FAO-BioDeC, providing information on biotechnology products and techniques in use or in the pipeline in developing countries. Entries cover genetically modified crops and non-GM biotechnologies. Accessible in Arabic, English, French and Spanish. 53 pages. Available as a free download at http://www.fao.org/biotech/. Contact FOA, Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture; email [e-mail] website http://www.fao.org/biotech/.


*GM Contamination Register, Website*http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org/.
GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace. Intended to be a resource for individuals, public interest groups and governments. Searchable website gives details of all the known cases of GM contamination of food, feed, seed and wild plants that have taken place worldwide. Includes information about, and links to GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace websites as well as other useful sites. Contact GeneWatch UK, The Mill House, Manchester Road, Tideswell, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 8LN, UK; email [e-mail]; website http://www.genewatch.org.

http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/morepbs061605.cfm

More on Monsanto & PBS's New Partnership
Monsanto Takes Over America's Heartland
Posted 6/16/05


In India they're using a Bollywood star to promote their products. In America...


EXCERPTS: "Heartland" has a two-year financial commitment, station officials said, from the powerful voice of the nation's farming establishment, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and St. Louis-based agribusiness giant Monsanto Co.


Though the station retains rights to select its stories, it consults with a national advisory board that includes groups like the National Corn Growers Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and International Food Information Council, a Washington industry group that promotes genetically modified crops along with food safety and nutrition research. Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman of Modesto has also helped introduce the new national show by talking up "a tremendous amount of viewers" for the California version. for more on International Food Information Council: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=64 for more on the National Corn Growers Association: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=96 for more on the American Farm Bureau Federation: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=267 for more on

Monsanto: http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=25&page=1