A voracious harvest-destroying pest has evolved to eat genetically engineered corn, designed to kill it.
According to researchers at the Iowa State University, the Western Corn Rootworm, a beetle larvae, has developed a resistance to two strains of GMO corn due to the over-reliance and improper implementation of the crops by farmers.
Bt corn was introduced to the market in 1996. Since then it has proven to be enormously popular for its ability to exterminate colonies of corn rootworms and borers in the Midwest, where it is grown. The widespread use of this technology, together with its incorrectly management, placed intense selection on pest populations to evolve Bt resistance. As a result the Western Corn Rootworm species became stronger, bigger and more toxin-resistant and destructive.
Nature, as it seems, is often able to find a way.
Source: Wired
Related post: Monsanto’s Technorhetoric Kills Corn
Share your thoughts and join the technology debate!
Be the first to comment