One of the main reasons to genetically engineer crops was to develop plants that are resistant to insects, by having pesticide engineered into the plants themselves. But new research shows that insects love GM crops! The first problem is that pests become resistant to the pesticide, meaning they won’t be killed when the same pesticide is sprayed on non-GM plants. Scientists say that the insects’ resistance develops more quickly than ever because they are constantly exposed to the toxin, rather than just trying to survive an occasional spraying. But now researchers have discovered that insects actually use the poison as a food, so that rather than controlling pests, the GM crops actually help them thrive.
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Food crops in Texas have been contaminated by an experimental pig vaccine that was put into GM corn. The newest genetically-engineered crops are “biopharmed,” which means genes containing drugs and industrial chemicals are put into food crops. But if these GM crops contaminate ordinary food crops, it could destroy the food supply. “The incident overall just reaffirms our concerns that something could go wrong,” says Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.

Prodigene of Texas was fined 3 million dollars for contaminating half a million bushels of soy bean meal with genes from corn that was genetically-engineered to contain a trial vaccine used to prevent stomach upsets in piglets.
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Scientists are trying to grow meat in a lab dish so astronauts can eat steak in space. But it could also get vegetarians to start grilling their grub, since this type of meat can be considered “victimless.” Researcher Vladimir Mironov hopes we can one day grow and cook our own food overnight in a special machine, just like a home bread maker.
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Rachel Carson wrote the book “Silent Spring” years ago to warn that the use of the pesticide DDT was killing America?s songbirds. Now our birds have another enemy: herbicide-tolerant genetically-modified crops. These crops enable farmers to spray herbicides on their fields to get rid of the weeds, without killing their crops. However, a decline in weeds means a decline in the seeds those weeds produce?many of which are the staple food for bird populations. Birds and butterflies don?t like the kind of plants we eat?they like things like milkweed, which is the main diet of Monarch butterflies. If we get rid of the weeds, we?ll leave them nothing to eat.
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