In defense of GM crops: Pro-biotech writer explains why GM crops save money and lives

A recent scientific study in Nature reported that merely cultivating GM crops provided a healthy boost to the local ecosystem, including organic crops. Over the past 16 years, vast plantings of transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins form the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have helped to control several major insect pests and reduce the need for insecticide sprays.

The authors of the Nature paper also discovered that Bt cotton conferred a benefit on neighboring, non-GM crops such as peanut and soybean. The reason was higher populations of predators, which in turn likely helped keep the pest aphid population low. The mere presence of Bt cotton indirictly helped protect non-GM crops. (1) Again, this is another win for farmers and the environment.

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