As an irrigated cropping systems agronomist I work on ways to sustain agriculture. In doing this, I have come to realize that there are certain requirements that agriculture must meet to produce food and to keep producing food (yes, fiber…
Written by Mike Bonds Managing pests is an important part of cultivating plants whether you are tending a small garden in your yard or several fields of crops. Insect predators can make short work of healthy plants, particularly if insect…
Written by Jonas Kathage The issue of pest resistance to insect resistant Bt crops receives regular media attention, partly because anti-biotechnology lobbies use it as an argument to vilify GM crops. The German NGO testbiotech, in a recently published report…
A protest group is threatening to destroy research. We interviewed Dr. Gia Aradottir to help shed some light on this experiment.
In part 1 of this series, I explained how we've been using genetic engineering of sorts for nearly half a century to control insects by using radiation to induce sterility or other dominant lethal mutations in insects. In part 2,…
Read More Genetic modification of insects as pest control part 3
In part 1 of this series, I discussed the history of genetic modification in insects as pest control. We've been creating insect GMOs for the purposes of controlling pests for awhile. If you bombard insects with radiation, it can kill…
Read More Genetic modification of insects as pest control part 2
Vector borne diseases (VBDs) are generally pretty bad. Yellow fever, the disease which stopped the Panama canal dead in it's tracks, makes your liver fail and turns you yellow... hence the name. Malaria is caused by a parasite which ruptures…
Read More Genetic modification of insects as pest control – Part 1
