GM plants no panacea

Opponents of GM technology will surely pounce on new patents from the US agrichemicals company Monsanto which admits that genetically engineering plants to resist pests is not a panacea. Novartis has already had doubts (New Scientist, 18 December 1999, p 5) and now Monsanto’s patents (W0 02/28184/5) admit even more frankly that transgenic pest control “may not be desirable in the long term” because it produces resistant strains and “numerous problems remain…under actual field conditions”. So they’re going for a belt-and-braces approach. Monsanto will now bioengineer maize to release endotoxins, but also treat the maize seed with the pesticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam. This, says Monsanto,…