Abstract
Two years ago, researchers provided evidence that corn transgenic for Bt, the pesticide from Bacillus thuringiensis, was harmful to monarch butterfly larvae. Now US researchers from the private and public sectors respond with their own studies that show that there is little if any risk from Bt corn pollen. Six studies appeared in the Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. (published online 14 September 2001; http://www.pnas.org), that, in general, agree that Bt corn has a low risk. One author, Mark Sears (University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada), told reporters, ‘there is less than a 1 or 2% risk of a monarch caterpillar being exposed.’ One biotech critic, Jane Rissler (Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, MA, USA; http://www.ucsusa.org), noted that one Bt corn variety was harmful to monarch larvae, but that for unrelated reasons, the variety is being discontinued. [Vorman, J. (2001) Reuters, 11 September] TS
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