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Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring bacterium in the soil that produces proteins specifically active against certain insects. This is the exac
by rmason 5y ago
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring bacterium in the soil that produces proteins specifically active against certain insects.
This is the exact same insecticide used by certified organic growers. Plant breeders have just engineered the plants to produce it in their leaves, not in the corn itself.
For thirty years objections have been raised, scientific research has been done disproving the objections. Yet Bt corn is still banned in a large part of Europe.
- londons_explore 5y agoThere are other political reasons for the ban... Do you want your whole food supply dependant on licensing from another nation who is an ally today, but could use this as a bargaining chip to "do as we say or we'll stop licensing you corn and destroy your agriculture industry".
- Clewza313 5y agoSure, but licensing/patents are entirely separate from the environment benefits here.
- londons_explore 5y agoIf you say "I'll take the environmental benefits, but pass on the patents/licensing", you're quickly gonna get slapped with sanctions. So they aren't really seperate.
- fogihujy 5y agoThey're definitely separate issues, but decision makers still need to take both into account. "It's better for the environment" is a poor excuse when you have angry farmers yelling outside one door, and poor hungry people outside the other.
- puchatek 5y agoIf this was the only driver then the logical response wouldn't be a ban but rather more r&d spending to develop European alternatives.
- londons_explore 5y agoAny European alternative developed would end up banned in the US, the biggest corn market. The US doesn't let people muscle in on its flagship agritech industries. Europe might be a big enough market to be worth the R&D though - although it doesn't grow anywhere as much corn as we do.
- asdff 5y agoJust do what European pharmaceutical companies do and make a generic version.
- legulere 5y agoJust because it occurs naturally in soil doesn’t mean it is harmless, especially in concentrated settings. Putting BT-Genes in plants also means using pesticides indiscriminately and precludes targeted pesticide use.
- mellavora 5y agoSorry, no. Even Monsanto's own research confirms that large-scale use of Bt-corn will destroy organic farming. When a pesticide is widespread, insects develop resistance. At the moment, few insects have resistance to BT, because it is not continually in the environment in sufficiently high numbers. So it works as an organic insecticide when needed. Genetically engineer it into large numbers of plants, and in 30-40 years it is no longer effective. Which means organic farmer no longer have the option of using it.