Report: Monsanto’s Latest GM Maize Doesn’t Reduce Pests or Increase Yields
And it's banned by most of Europe
by Christina Sarich
Monsanto promised that its latest and greatest GM crop, MON810, a genetically modified (GM) insecticidal maize banned by most of Europe, would increase
yields and stop crop loss due to pests. A new report from the
government of Aragon in Spain says those promises are empty. [1]
There is an inserted gene in the DNA of MON810 which allows the plant
to make a protein that harms insects that try to eat it. The inserted
gene is from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which produces the Bt toxin that is poisonous to insects in the Lepidoptera order, including the European Corn Borer.
[2] Three quarters of the corn grown in Aragon, Spain is currently
genetically modified, but conventional varieties were tested against GM
Maize varieties in 2014.
“Helen,” “Zoom,” and “Kayras” – the non-GM isogenic (parent) lines
(plant varieties) – were compared with the GM varieties derived from
each line. The genetic insert was the MON810 construct from the US
company, Monsanto.
