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October 10, 2011

Using smarter toxins to help crops fight pests

Protecting crops from infestations has always posed a challenge, one of the most successful ways has been to use genes from bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT), which codes proteins that kill pests attempting to eat them. Recently some insects pest have shown a resistance to BT, this new resistance is threatens the continued success of this approach. In the current issue of Nature Biotechnology, a research team led by University of Arizona Professor Bruce Tabashnik reports,"a given Bt toxin only kills certain insects that have the right receptors in their gut." Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers.
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