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Published online 25 July 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060724-5
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Transgenic cotton drives insect boom
Secondary pests could undermine initial benefits of Bt cotton.
After 7 years of planting cotton genetically engineered to kill bollworms, other insects have boomed so much on Chinese farms that their owners are losing money.
The new finding, from a study of nearly 500 cotton farmers, is likely to be controversial because it suggests that the genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton, named for the Bacillus thuringiensis bacterial gene it contains, doesn't live up to the agricultural success story suggested by some earlier studies.
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