You are here:
BOOK REVIEW – BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS: A CORNERSTONE OF MODERN AGRICULTURE BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS
Citation:
GLASER, J. A. BOOK REVIEW – BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS: A CORNERSTONE OF MODERN AGRICULTURE BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS. AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 85(2):204-206, (2005).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Are you interested in the technical issues surrounding the use of Bacillus thuringiensis pesticidal traits as sprays and as plant incorporated protectants (transgenic crops)? Should the dimensions of human health, ecology, entomology, risk assessment, resistance management, and developmental research as applied to pesticides be important to your interest, then this small volume may appease many of your information demands. A series of eight review papers and four research papers that focus on current and new uses of the microorganism Bacillus thuringiensis in modern agriculture can be found in this volume. This collection seeks to examine the vital issues surrounding the use of Bt technology as microbial formulations and transgenic crops and will prove invaluable to anyone engaged in activities associated with transgenic pesticidal trait crops. Kough of USEPA reviews the status of safety issues related to the human consumption of Bt toxins that are either sprayed or incorporated as part of crops to control specific pests. The human consumption safety concerns are generally focused on any potential toxicity that arises from the human ingestion of food derived from treated or transgenic crops. The lack of adverse effects, based on the results of extensive safety testing, has proven Bt to be a significantly reduced risk pesticide. Federici of University of California offers a persuasive evaluation of the effects of Bt crops on non target organisms. The narrow range of toxicity of the Bt toxin proteins is underscored as a major reason that the non target effects of the crops are minimal for most if not all field invertebrates generally exposed to the Bt crop toxins.
