A genetically engineered pest

Anyone who has worked in a food industry is well aware that cleanliness is of paramount importance. Generally there is a daily routine to have the equipment cleaned and disinfected. What is less well known is that for disinfection there are regimes of rotating the disinfectants, often on a weekly basis.

So in week 1 you use disinfectant A, in week 2 you use disinfectant B, in week 3 you use disinfectant C and in week 4 you use disinfectant A again. And so on.

The reason for this rotation is that bacteria and moulds can develop over a relatively short period resistance against a particular disinfectant. As each disinfectant tackles the microorganisms from a different angle, you are able to wipe out a microorganism that starts to become resistant against disinfectant A by applying disinfectant B or C. So, continuous rotating of disinfectants enables you to keep the critters under control.

The role of insecticides in relation to insects is similar as disinfectants to microorganisms. So, insecticides wipe out insects, but here too the biological principle holds. Spraying for too long with the same insecticide helps to develop resistance against that particular spray.

Insects have a number of different life stages. When the eggs come out we have the young insects as larvae to deal with. They are the heavy feeders and chomp away on any suitable plant material. This is the stage that causes the most damage to crops. Then, via a dormant stage there are the mature insects that fly and multiply. So, it is obvious that different sprays can tackle different life stages of a particular insect.

There is an insecticide that is a gift of nature. It is not a chemical as such, but a bacterium by the name of Bacillus thuringiensis. Or, Bt for short. Caterpillars that eat Bt develop stomach problems and die. More recently it has been possible to cultivate Bt and manufacture Bt products that can be sprayed on crops. In other words this is a kind of living insecticide.

Because it is the interaction between Bt bacteria and insects that kills the insects, Bt sprayed crops remain chemically free. Bt sprays are therefore widely used in organic farming. The art of using Bt is to take into consideration the time of the year, the insect(s) you are targeting, their larval stage and giving them a heavy dose at the right moment. This way you wipe out the larvae without giving them the opportunity to develop resistance through long exposure times. Mature stages of insects are not affected by Bt sprays.

Monsanto has been able to give whole plants the characteristics of a pesticide through gene splicing. They were able to put Bt genes into cotton and other crops. The result is that all the parts of these newly engineered plants become toxic to certain insect pests on a permanent basis.

It is obvious that the biological principle will do its work again and that many different insects will become resistant to Bt. No one is disputing this. From then on Bt will become useless to farmers and this new development could mean the end of organic farming altogether as Bt is used by almost all organic farmers. They cannot use chemical insecticides without destroying their ability to market produce as organic.

It has been suggested that this is precisely what Monsanto's aim is: to wipe out organic farming and make all farming dependent on chemical insecticides.

According to The Macquarie Concise Dictionary, a pest is an organism harmful to agriculture. The term agriculture must be understood here as including horticulture (fruit and vegetables).

Bt genes containing plants function as converters for Bt susceptible insects to become Bt resistant. As such Bt genes containing plants are pests that have the potential to wipe out the entire organic farming industry.

According to the same dictionary a noxious pest is an animal, insect, plant, etc declared harmful by statute law for compulsory eradication.

Bt genes containing plants should be declared noxious pests, banned from Australia and where already introduced, eradicated.

H. Julius

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