The Use Corn

I have read several articles regarding the use of bt corn, and it’s pros and cons. One of the articles that I read was from a website called Wisegeek.org. According to this website, bt corn is a genetically modified organism that has been designed to repel crop pests that can potentially damage the crops . A GMO is a plant or animal that has been genetically modified from adding a small amount of genetic component gathered from other organisms through molecular procedures. Presently, the GMO’s that are available have genetic traits that protect against pests, tolerance to pesticides or enhance the quality. The corn uses a toxin made by a bacterium called bacillus thuringiensis. Bt bursts the intestines of the corn borer and similar organisms when absorbed. The pests usually die between two or three days of consuming the toxin. The bacterium has been used since the 1930’s by farmers as an approach of pest control by spraying the toxin on their crops. (Wisegeek.org)

The use of this pesticide had some defects such as washing away and uneven coverage. Researchers started thinking about the idea of placing the genes that code for the toxin inside the genetic code of the corn, as well as a portion of code known as a promoted that would boost the corn to produce the toxin. (Wisegeek.org)

There has been research conducted on Bt corn by government agencies to determine if it was safe or not. When its approved, it could be used by farmers along with “refuge” crops of non bt corn. (Wisegeek.org)

According to Alexis Baden-Mayer from organicconsumers.org, there are several countries that have already banned the use of bt corn, but in the USA there are 16 different GMO bt varieties of corn approved for food. Alexis claims that bt corn has caused death and illness among people and animals, as well as insects that are beneficial. One of the insects that bt corn can kill, are monarch butterflies in the caterpillar stage.There has also been speculation