Archived press release

Gm crops harmful to wildlife says new research

4 March 1999

Potatoes genetically modified (GM) to produce a pesticide also harms ladybirds, says new research carried out by the Scottish Crop Research Institute. The research found that female ladybirds' lifespans were halved, and their reproduction reduced, when they were fed aphids which had fed on the GM potatoes. Ladybirds are beneficial predatory insects and, because they are a natural pest control, are regarded as farmers' friends.

The experiments used the same transgenic potatoes as those examined by Dr Pustzai. The potatoes were genetically modified to include a toxin - GNA lectin - found in snowdrops to make them resistant to potato aphids. GNA lectins are also being used in GM experiments with grapes, oilseed rape, potatoes, rice, sweet potato, sugar cane, sunflower, tobacco,walnuts and tomatoes.

Adrian Bebb, Food Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
"This research indicates that this genetic modification can have a negative impact on insects often regarded by the farmer as a natural pest control.Worryingly, the researchers describe their findings as not even a 'worst case scenario'. What type of scenario will it take to make the Government sit up and take notice. We urgently need a five-year GM-freeze to allow for detailed research to be undertaken into the true risks from such crops."

NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] 'Tri-trophic interactions involving pest aphids, predatory 2-spot ladybirds and transgeneic potatoes expressing snowdrop lectin for aphid resistance' A.N.E. Birch et al Molecular Breeding 5: 75-83,1999.

The research found that "When adult 2-spot ladybirds were fed for 12 days on peach-potato aphids colonising transgenic potatoes expressing GNA [snowdrop lectin] in leaves, ladybird fecundity, egg viability and longevity significantly decreased over the following 2-3 weeks. No acute toxicity due to transgenic plants was observed, athough female ladybird longevity was reduced by up to 51%. These results demonstrate that expression of lectin gene for insect resistance in a transgenic potato line can cause adverse effcets to a predatory ladybird via aphids in its food chain. The significance of these potential ecological risks under field conditions need to be further evaluted."

"The experimental design we have used should not be considered a transgenic crop 'worst case scenario'..[as]..the transgenic potato line used was selected as being low expressing for the GNA lectin in follar tissue....[and]...ladybirds were only exposed to the 'GNA' aphid diet for 12 days, then all ladybirds were switched to 'optimal' diet."

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