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TODAY Friday 23 January 1998 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: Good Biotech, Bad Biotech

My universe, which, thanks to recent discoveries from the Hubbell Telescope, we know to be infinitely expanding, embraces the idea that genetic engineering of crops can be a good thing. If there are assurances of "appropriate safeguards" from a big enough majority of scientists (and from a big-enough majority of judicious laypersons), I think rice that's resistant to pests or grains that fix nitrogen or weird fast-growing woody plants that decompose into hydrogen fuel sound OK. Splice away.

But when the object of the splicing is to create a plant that occasions more poisons, well...

These issues come to play in a recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency, brought to light through Environmental News Network. EPA turned down a petition from chemical giant Rhone-Poulec to allow for expanded use of the herbicide bromoxynil. Bromoxynil is a nasty carcinogen that kills almost anything that grows. Until now. Now there's a genetically-altered cotton that resists bromoxynil. A hoer's dream: using an herbicide that terrorizes weeds but spares the cash crop.

If EPA holds to this line, then the kind of biotech which confers resistances to synthetic toxins will have a hard time justifying its R&D costs. Companies which have dedicated their resources to developing crops which tolerate poisons may be induced to work on crops which require fewer poisons to thrive. It'll be a fascinating process to keep an eye on.

Kudos to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which watchdogged this decision. "The sole purpose of this cotton is to expand the use of a very dangerous pesticide," says UCS plant pathologist Jane Rissler. She's right to fight.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE

Getcher Grove heah! Yep, there's another issue of Lib Tree's fabulous free e-mail newsletter, another exclusive by Donella Meadows, more inside dope on the sordid operations of this Website (interns welcome!), and hot links to other cool places on the Web, not least the Center for Jack Lord Studies. We can't make it easier for you to subscribe.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

1/22: No More Roads
1/21: Swordfish
1/20: Electromagnetic Sleuthing
1/16: Good News Way Down Under
1/15: Twenty-Four Forty or Fight!
1/14: Your Tax Dollars at Work
1/13: Johnny Mobil Appleseed
1/12: Superbowl, Scientific Uncertainty, and the Future of Al Gore
1/9: Goodbye, Delaware
1/8: Leaf Blowers, Old Cars, Class Conflict
1/7: The Great Improvement That Didn't
1/6: Proactive, Shmoactive
1/5: Mediocre Landscapes and Hope for the Planet
1/2: The Greatest Environmental Cause of the Year
12/31/97: The Top Twelve Environment Stories of 1997

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.