Gene giant denies undermining GMs
16 December 1999
Gene giant denies undermining GMs
By Donald MacPhail
NOVARTIS, the Swiss life sciences giant, has denied undermining claims by the biotechnology industry that genetically modified crops reduce pesticide use.
The company has applied for patents identifying a range of pesticide combinations which boost yields of its Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize by 20%.
It has also extended the patents to cover a wide range of GM crops, including cereals, soya beans, potatoes, rice, cotton and mustard.
Anti-GM campaigners claimed the move is a “quick fix” which makes a nonsense of claims that GM crops will reduce pesticide use.
Sarah North, anti-GM campaigner for Greenpeace, said: “This is more proof that GM technology is untried science with untried environmental consequences.
“The response from the biotech industry is completely predictable; throw more chemicals at it – after all, that is their core business.
“Neither Greenpeace nor the consumer will buy that kind of technical quick fix. Its a complex ecological and agricultural problem.”
But a spokesman for Novartis said that pesticide use is part of an integrated strategy and insisted that GM crops will not lead to increased pesticide use.
“We never said GM crops would be a panacea for all problems. They are part of an integrated approach to increase yields which may involve pesticides.”
The spokesman added: “This does not mean there will be more pesticide, if anything there will be less.”
The GM maize developed by Novartis has a gene inserted which produces the Bt toxin, a bacterial protein which kills the larvae of the European corn borer.
This is a major pest which in a year consumes enough maize to provide the calorific value needed to feed the population of the UK for a year.
But Bt toxin cannot control other pests such as sap-sucking insects. Novartis wants a combination of its pesticides to tackle these insects and boost yields.
An estimated 25% of the US maize grown in 1999 was Bt maize. It is thought that Bt varieties are grown on about 15 million acres in the USA.
Farmers and green groups have taken legal action claiming the American Environmental Protection Agency should not have approved various Bt crops.
Earlier this year, researchers said the pollen from Bt maize may kill American monarch butterflies.