A strain of genetically modified wheat developed in the UK has failed to repel pests as intended in field trials. In the laboratory, the scientists were able for the first time to modify wheat so it produced a type of scent that aphids emit when they are threatened. It is a similar molecule to the one found in peppermint.
Aphids – such as greenfly and blackfly – damage plants by sucking nutrients from their sap, and can also introduce plant viruses. In controlled conditions, the aphids were repelled and the predators were attracted.
This success did not transfer to the field. They are not quite sure why, but one hypothesis is that the aphids became used to the chemical deterrent, and so weren’t put off by it. Scientists had wanted to engineer a variety with an odour that deterred aphids, nicknamed “whiffy wheat”. While it worked in the lab, out in the field, the wheat was still attacked by the pests.
But negative results are part-and-parcel of the scientific process; researchers behind the project will now work to improve the strain.
The wheat trial was the subject of protests by anti-GM campaigners in 2012. And opposition groups said the outcome was further evidence of the “folly” of investing in GM technology.
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The research project itself cost £732,000; another £444,000 was spent on fencing to protect the trial site from intruders and to stop wild animals getting in.
Campaign group GM Freeze, the UK’s umbrella campaign on GM food and farming, said that the outcome of the trials provides clear evidence of the “folly” of focusing public resources on the development and promotion of GM crops.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: UK GM wheat ‘does not repel pests’
