January 2, 2015 - Armyworms Winning the Arms Race with GMOs

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Friday, January 2, 2015 - According to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers at the USDA and several Universities have found that crop-devastating pests known as armyworms have developed resistance to the genetically modified organisms (GMOs) designed to kill them.

Armyworms are the caterpillar form of a moth (Spodoptera frugiperda) and are usually vulnerable to the pesticides produced by genetically engineered plants that carry the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene.
 
Armyworms can be devastating to major agricultural crops including corn, cotton and soy, and result in the loss of tens of millions of dollars per year to farmers in the South.
 
Along with explosion of Roundup-resistant superweeds, resistant armyworms are further evidence of the emerging problem of "super-pests" driven by GMOs.
 
One of the researchers stated that resistance to Bt poses "a great threat" to the future of GMO crops. Hopefully he is correct.
 

Read the original article here

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