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  3. One of industrial agriculture’s biggest GMO crops may have just backfired (产

One of industrial agriculture’s biggest GMO crops may have just backfired (产

游客2024-04-20  19
问题     One of industrial agriculture’s biggest GMO crops may have just backfired (产生事与愿违的后果). Scientists have confirmed that corn-destroying rootworms have evolved to be resistant to the Bt corn engineered to kill them.
    Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis (苏云金芽孢杆菌), the name of the genetically modified corn’s "donor" organism. Bacillus thuringiensis is a naturally occurring soil bacterium that produces protein crystals that bind to certain receptors in the rootworm’s intestine (肠), killing it. For years, farmers have planted Bt corn as an alternative to spraying insecticides. Bt corn accounted for three-quarters of all corn planting in 2013. That may have to change.
    After finding a cornfield in Iowa in 2011 that was decimated (大幅度下降) by rootworm despite being planted with the Bt corn, Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann and his team began to study the pests’ interactions with the genetically modified organism (or GMO) corn in a lab. Their study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes the western corn rootworm’s rapid evolution after feeding on the engineered crop.
    But Bt corn is still capable of warding off other pests, so farmers will likely keep planting it. Except now they’ll need to use pesticides to protect their crop from rootworms. As entomologists warned the Environmental Protection Agency in 2012, rootworm resistance means that the environmental advantage of Bt corn — that it could be raised pesticide-free — may disappear.
    "Unless management practices change, it’s only going to get worse," Gassmann told Wired. "There needs to be a fundamental change in how the technology is used."
    Scientists have predicted for years that this could happen, but warnings were repeatedly ignored by regulators and farmers. It takes millions of dollars to develop seeds like Bt, so engineering an alternative is not an attractive option. Instead, the authors of another study on rootworm Bt resistance, which focuses on Nebraska, take a biodiversity approach.
    "Crop rotation is the best tool," University of Nebraska-Lincoln entomologist Lance Meinke told Farm & Ranch Guide. "Generally, one year of soybeans in a field with resistant western corn rootworms wipes out that population. The beetles will lay eggs that hatch, but when larvae (幼虫) try to feed on soybean plants, they don’t find the nutrients they need and they die."
    Crop rotation can suppress rootworm populations over time, reducing the threat posed by their new Bt resistance.
    But as entomologist Elson Shields of Cornell University told Wired, rootworm is just one symptom of a system wide problem that will likely come back to bite the GMO seed industry’s focus on short-term profit. The next engineered seed trait "will fall under the same pressure," said Shields, "and the insect will win." [br] What is the problem with the GMO seed industry, according to Elson Shields?
选项 A、Most of the entomologists failed to predict its future destiny.
B、The GMO seed industry lacks long-term consideration.
C、People mistakenly consider rootworm as the biggest trouble.
D、It is very difficult for the GMO seed industry to win insects.
答案 B
解析 末段首句提到，昆虫学家埃尔森.希尔兹告诉《连线》杂志，根虫只是全局问题的一个征兆，这个全局问题将有可能反过来侵蚀转基因种子产业所关注的短期利益。由此可见，转基因种子产业全局问题的根源还是转基因种子产业对短期利益的关注，故B)符合题意。A)和C)都无从得知，予以排除。D)是利用本段末句中的the insect will win设置的干扰项，文中说的是全局问题不解决，最终的胜利者仍然会是昆虫。
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