Monsanto has revealed that a common insect pest has developed resistance to its flagship genetically modified (GM) product in India. The agricultural biotechnology leader says it "detected unusual survival" of pink bollworms that fed on cotton containing the Cry1Ac gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which codes for a protein that's toxic to many insect pests.
Gilles-Eric Seralini, one of the first scientists to warn the world about the dangers of genetically modified food, counters pro-GM scientists in an interview with Savvy Soumya Misra. Some scientists are planning to write to the Indian government, saying you never carried out any independent study and had no access to Bt gene of maize or brinjal. What do you have to say?
Monsanto, facing antitrust probes into its GM seeds, may benefit from previous court rulings in which intellectual property rights trumped competition concerns. The US Department of Justice and 7 state attorneys general are investigating whether the world
NEW DELHI: Biotech crop giant Monsanto seemed to admit failure with Bt cotton last week, but a government analysis says it looks more like a smart business strategy.
New Delhi, March 9: Despite Monsanto admitting that its Bt cotton (Bollgard-1) had failed to control pests in four districts of Gujarat, GEAC, apex regulator of genetically-modified crops, has cleared the Bollgard-2 variety, which has two Bt resistant genes, thereby increasing its toxicity.
Even as reports of Bt cotton 1 developing resistance to pink bollworm create concern in the farming community, Monsanto has begun work on two new technologies Bollgard III, the third generation Bt cotton technology, and Roundup Ready Flex (RRF), a technology that gives herbicide tolerance to the plant.
