Biotech Brasil: "Biotechnology is also good for bees and earthworms--and presumably for lots of other species as well. The implications for sustainable agriculture are significant.
The study suggests strongly that biotechnology not only can play a helpful role in conservation efforts but may in fact represent an environmental improvement over traditional methods of pest control.
These new findings are the result of what scientists call a “meta-analysis.” It means that they looked at an ark-load of separate research and tried to draw common lessons from it.
In this particular case, they examined 42 field experiments involving Bt crops in America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
The biologists who culled through all of this data aren’t exactly a bunch of corporate shills, either. They’re associated with four environmentally-minded organizations: the Nature Conservancy, the Environmental Studies Institute at Santa Clara University, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, and the University of California at Santa Barbara.
They did exactly what scientists are supposed to do: They set aside any biases they might have and took an honest look at the evidence.
Their most important observation can be summarized in a single sentence:
The study suggests strongly that biotechnology not only can play a helpful role in conservation efforts but may in fact represent an environmental improvement over traditional methods of pest control.
These new findings are the result of what scientists call a “meta-analysis.” It means that they looked at an ark-load of separate research and tried to draw common lessons from it.
In this particular case, they examined 42 field experiments involving Bt crops in America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
The biologists who culled through all of this data aren’t exactly a bunch of corporate shills, either. They’re associated with four environmentally-minded organizations: the Nature Conservancy, the Environmental Studies Institute at Santa Clara University, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, and the University of California at Santa Barbara.
They did exactly what scientists are supposed to do: They set aside any biases they might have and took an honest look at the evidence.
Their most important observation can be summarized in a single sentence:
“Nontarget invertebrates are generally more abundant in Bt cotton and Bt maize fields than in nontransgenic fields managed with insecticides.”
About the blog
The Biotech Brasil blog is published by Luciana di Ciero, an Agronomic Engineer with a Masters Degree in Agronomy and Doctorate Degree in Science.
Luciana di Ciero currently works as a researcher and develops activities in the field of Tree Genomic and Biosafety with GMOs, as well as work that requires an analysis of the interaction between the environment, productive means, human health and policies, with an outlook of sustainable development.
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