The Yin and Yang of Killer Corn

Hardy Hall | Pages 41-48 | BioTeach Online Journal | Vol. 1 | Fall 2003

Bt corn, a genetically modified food (GMO), has been both the poster-child and thorn in the side of the plant biotechnology industry from the late nineties to present. While plants possess and barrage of secondary metabolites to deter insects (Pare and Tumlinson 1999), these natural plant strategies have proven inadequate in fighting invading crop pests, even under the influence of the strong artificial selection pressures of modern breeding programs. Biotechnology, however, has radically transformed crop development, providing immediate solutions to age-old agricultural problems. Bt corn is generated by the simple insertion of an insecticidal protein from a bacterial plant pathogen directly into a corn race. Despite this minor genetic alteration, Bt corn has been mired by complications...