The New York Times reports on a potential solution for a highly adaptive pest that targets kale, broccoli and other cabbage-family vegetables. Damage from the diamondback moth costs farmers $5 billion worldwide.
The problem stems from the moth’s ability to adapt to insecticides, which forces farmers to spray a rotating suite of chemicals. Scientists are now field-testing genetically modified moths that are infused “with DNA designed to kill female larvae,” the Times says, in the hope that one day the laboratory-tailored insects can replace excessive chemical use. “If the results are promising, the transgenic moths will be released into a small cabbage patch next summer. It would be the first experimental release on American soil of insects genetically engineered to self-destruct.”
Anthony Shelton, the entomologist running the experiments at the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, told the Times: “Our goal as a community is to reduce the amount of pesticides used in agriculture. Why not use genetics to accomplish this?”
Advocates with the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York wrote a letter protesting the trials. The group is concerned that the modified moths could contaminate organic fields and endanger farmers’ certification, though the Times says that moths rarely stray from fields.