Bt maize
articles & blog entries
- 27. November 2007
Bt crops were developed about 15 years ago, and there still is no method to properly assess the toxin content of plant material.Bookmark/Search this post with: - 22. November 2007
Rosi-Marshal et al. (2007) just published a long overdue study about whether Bt plant residues got into headwaters during or after cultivation, and whether the Bt-toxin would have adverse effects on water insects like caddies flies, close relatives to butterflies. In both cases the answer was yes. This laboratory study gives enough indication to at least include water insects in the monitoring of Bt crops.Bookmark/Search this post with: - 29. October 2007For the first time the EU Environmental Commissioner Dimas proposed to reject applications for the cultivation of GMOs. The crops in question are the two Bt maize events Bt11 (Syngenta) and 1507 maize (Pioneer HiBred/Dow).
The proposal is apparently based on clear scientific evidence proving that the cultivation of these two GM crops has the potential to cause environmental harm. Nevertheless both crops had gotten a positive opinion from the EFSA in 2005. [Bt11, 1507]Bookmark/Search this post with: - 9. August 2007After years of arguments the German government finally decided on changes on a number of regulations for GM crops. What's hailed as an improvement in fact makes matters worse and some of the pressing issues have still not been tackled. What made it to the main TV news was that GM maize now should be planted 150 m away from conventional maize, or 300 m from organic maize. Or less if the GM farmer makes an agreement with his neighbours. It doesn't take much imagination to picture the pressure that can mount in a village if one farmer wants to grow GM maize... But it also means that their neighbours will have to label any kind of GM contamination, even below 0.9% because agreeing to a lesser safety distance clearly could technically been avoided.Bookmark/Search this post with:
- 29. June 2007
Only less than two months after Greenpeace had detected illegal contamination of maize pellets in the harbour of Rotterdam, the EU commission tried to solve the problem by approving the maize Herculex RW (59122) as feed and food. The Standing Committee however did not agree with that on Monday.
In April, illegal contamination was detected in US maize in the harbours of Rotterdam and Dubin: maize feed was contaminated with the GM maize Herculex RW (DAS-59122) that is not approved in the EU. Contamination with this maize is therefore forbidden - no matter how big that contamination is.Bookmark/Search this post with: - 10. May 2007
A. Lorch & Ch. Then. Greenpeace Germany report, May 2007.
In the growing season 2006, Greenpeace sampled leaves from commercially cultivated MON810 in Germany and Spain and found that Bt contents were very variable and often very low, but also that even 10 years into the cultivation of Bt crops, there is no standardised method to determine Bt contents. The results are published in this report.Bookmark/Search this post with:
glossary
A number of different Bt maize events have been developed. Most of them (like MON810) produce a modified form of the Bt toxin Cry1Ab to protect the plants against the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis). The toxin is produced in different concentrations in all parts of the plant. It primarily acts against butterflies in general, but direct and indirect effects on other non-target organisms have been shown.
Newer Bt maize events produce a form of Cry3b against root worms. In addition, hybrids of different GM maize events with toxin production and herbicide tolerance have been developed.
MON810 is the only Bt maize approved for cultivation in the EU, but banned in 5 EU memberstates.Bookmark/Search this post with:Bt11, a GM Bt maize owned by Syngenta, produces the Bt toxin Cry1Ab against lepidopteran pests (moths and butterflies), mainly European corn borer (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis) and Mediterranean stem borer (MCB, Sesamia nonagrioides). In addition, Bt11 is herbicide-tolerant against the glufosinate-ammonium (BASTA, Liberty).In its application for cultivation in the EU, Syngenta claims that Bt11 will not be marketed for its herbicide tolerance, but in other countries, such as the USA and Canada, the maize is marketed for both GM traits.
In October 2007, the EU Environmental Commissioner Dimas proposed to reject the application. The EU Commission has taken no decision yet.Bookmark/Search this post with:MON810 is a Bt maize event owned by Monsanto that produces a modified form of the Bt toxin Cry1Ab. It was developed by using two transgenic constructs for the Bt toxin, a herbicide tolerance, antibiotic resistance markers and start and stop codons. Using a shot gun method, the DNA sequences were only introduced partially so that MON810 produces only the Bt toxin, while the DNA sequences of the inserts are still not completely identified.
In the last years, a growing number of studies have shown adverse effects of the Bt toxin on non-target organisms, including effects that were only discovered after the the initial cultivation approvals were given. However, research about MON810 is hindered because research and publications about MON810 effects need the approval of Monsanto as the patent holder.
MON810 has been cultivated in the US since 1995. It got cultivation approval in the EU under 90/220 in 1998, but was only introduced to the seed catalogue in 2004. MON810 cultivation is banned in the EU memberstates Austria, Poland, France and Greece. In April 2008 Romania also announced that it would ban its cultivation. In Germany, the sale of MON810 was stopped in 2007 because the authorities did not consider the monitoring plan as sufficient, and even though a new monitoring plan has now be accepted, it has been widely criticized.Bookmark/Search this post with:
