The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

230 the world according to monsantoRecall that Bt plants—of which Monsanto was the largest producer—tooktheir name from a bacterium found naturally in the soil, Bacillus thuringiensis,which produces a substance that works like an insecticide. Isolated in1901 by a Japanese bacteriologist who had observed that it infected andkilled silkworms, this bacillus is used in spray form by organic farmers, becausethe toxin the bacteria produce has the property of rapidly decaying insunlight, allowing for selective use with no consequences for the environmentor for untargeted insect populations. But biotechnology had completelychanged things. Insertion of the gene that coded for the toxin meantthat the toxin was expressed permanently throughout the plant, creating therisk of affecting all insect populations, the useful as well as the harmful, asfor example the chrysopa, a predator of the corn borer that Bt was supposedto combat. When Losey conducted his research on the monarch butterfly,various studies had already showed that Bt crops could be fatal for beneficialinsects such as ladybugs, as well as microorganisms in the soil and insecteatingplants. 14In its lab the Cornell team had fed monarch butterfly larvae with milkweedleaves, their favorite diet, dusted with Bt corn pollen. “Four days later,44 percent of the larvae had died, and the survivors had lost their appetite.But none of the larvae exposed to leaves dusted with natural pollen haddied.” 15 The study caused a stir in North America, and the very day on whichit was published, the European Commission announced the suspension ofrequests for authorization for the marketing of several Bt varieties, includingMonsanto’s. Christian Morin, the Novartis spokesman, defended the company:“These were laboratory observations, in conditions that placed themonarch in extreme circumstances,” and he asked that the experiment berepeated in the field. 16 But nothing was to be done; the misfortunes ofAmericans’ beloved butterfly delivered the first blow against corn exports toEurope, which collapsed. Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientistswas indignant: “Why is it that this study was not done before the approvalof Bt corn? This is 20 million acres of Bt corn too late. This shouldserve as a warning that there are more unpleasant surprises ahead.” 17GMO producers led by Monsanto organized a response by conducting acampaign “downplaying and, in some instances, ridiculing the study,” and ifnecessary making statements that “were misleading, fanciful, and betrayedan ignorance of the monarch’s natural history,” as Lincoln Brower, who had