Journal ArticleDOI
Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae
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In a laboratory assay, it is found that larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, reared on milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from Bt corn, ate less, grew more slowly and suffered higher mortality than larvae rearing on leaves dusting with untransformed corn pollen or on leaves without pollen.Abstract:
Although plants transformed with genetic material from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt ) are generally thought to have negligible impact on non-target organisms1, Bt corn plants might represent a risk because most hybrids express the Bt toxin in pollen2, and corn pollen is dispersed over at least 60 metres by wind3. Corn pollen is deposited on other plants near corn fields and can be ingested by the non-target organisms that consume these plants. In a laboratory assay we found that larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, reared on milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from Bt corn, ate less, grew more slowly and suffered higher mortality than larvae reared on leaves dusted with untransformed corn pollen or on leaves without pollen.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Post‐war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain
TL;DR: In this article, the changes in agriculture and biodiversity in Britain since the 1940s have been quantified, showing that since 1945, there has been a 65% decline in the number of farms, a 77% reduction in farm labour and an almost fourfold increase in yield.
Journal ArticleDOI
How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture
TL;DR: The environmental and human health problems associated with current food production practices are outlined and how these systems could be made more sustainable are discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Insect pathogens as biological control agents: Back to the future.
Lawrence A. Lacey,David Grzywacz,David I. Shapiro-Ilan,Roger Frutos,M. Brownbridge,Mark S. Goettel +5 more
TL;DR: Current information on development, use and future directions of insect-specific viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes as components of integrated pest management strategies for control of arthropod pests of crops, forests, urban habitats, and insects of medical and veterinary importance is presented.
Book ChapterDOI
Technologies of Humility: Citizen Participation in Governing Science
TL;DR: In a prescient book, published in 1984, the sociologist Charles Perrow forecast a series of "normal accidents" which were strung like dark beads through the latter years of the twentieth century and beyond as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Economic, ecological, food safety, and social consequences of the deployment of bt transgenic plants.
TL;DR: Transgenic plants expressing insecticidal proteins from the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), are revolutionizing agriculture and have shown positive economic benefits to growers and reduced the use of other insecticides.
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