14 Sep 2011Insect resistance to a genetically modified variety of corn that's been discovered in several Midwestern states hasn't been found in Missouri, local plant scientists say.
Monsanto, the agricultural biotechnology firm based in St. Louis, developed the variety in 2003 to combat the corn rootworm that's long been a problem for farmers in the Midwest.
The corn is equipped with an endotoxin that kills rootworms when they eat the corn. This endotoxin is the product of a soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, said Bruce Hibbard, an entomologist specializing in the corn insects with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.
http://greenbio.checkbiotech.org/news/plant_scientists_find_insects_developing_resistance_genetically_modified_corn
