Study: Biotech Corn Kills Monarch

[Jeffrey A. Caldwell]

Paul,

Got any good ideas for an experimental design for this Bt corn pollen/monarach
interactions case?

Paul Cherubini wrote:

> Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer wrote:
> >
> > Paul seems to be creating an concern with experimental design where none
> > really exists. In the wild "natural" caterpillars have no more choice in
> > what they will eat than do caterpillars placed by humans on a plant. The
> > caterpillar's mother places the caterpillar, in the form of an egg, on a
> > plant and the caterpillar is then forced to eat that plant (and the pollen
> > on it) or starve. What difference is there between that and a human placing
> > the caterpillar on a plant?
>
> Big, subtle differences that may be too complex to ever fully
> understand. For example, farmers and pesticide applicators know there
> are big predictable differences in the effectiveness of different
> insecticides even if they are both be applied to the same field at the same
> rate. One might give a 25% kill. Another 75%. Yet both give a
> 100% kill in the laboratory.
>
> Paul Cherubini