{"id":38347,"date":"2013-09-26T22:01:26","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T02:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=38347"},"modified":"2015-02-01T16:49:16","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T21:49:16","slug":"gmo-crop-failure-african-caterpillars-develop-resistance-gmo-corn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/gmo-crop-failure-african-caterpillars-develop-resistance-gmo-corn\/","title":{"rendered":"GMO Crop Failure — African Caterpillars Develop Resistance To GMO Corn"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of the major agricultural pests of the African continent — the Busseola fusca<\/em> caterpillar — has now developed resistance to the Bt-toxin that GMO corn relies on for its productivity. While the relatively fast emergence of resistance in the caterpillars is notable in its own right, what’s most interesting is that the resistance is being inherited as a dominant trait — in complete contrast to expectations, and to the great disadvantage of those relying on current management strategies.<\/p>\n As it stands now, the management strategies in use have all been designed with the expectation of resistance being passed down solely as a “recessive” trait, and thus the emergence of resistance could be delayed significantly with the use of “refuges for Bt-susceptible moths”. But if the resistance is being passed down as a dominant trait (as it now is in Busseola fusca<\/em>) than these strategies are completely ineffective. Which no doubt is why genetic resistance to GMO corn\/Bt-toxin has experienced such a rapid geographical expansion over the past few years in the region.<\/p>\n