Source: Losey JE, LS Rayor, ME Carter. 1999. Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae. Nature 399:214.
The original of the GMO junk science papers, it left an indelible public image. It claimed that monarch caterpillars would die if they ate milkweed leaves sprinkled with pollen from GM corn.
The main reasons why this paper fails:
- Amounts fed were never measured or compared to real field conditions.
- Corn pollen shed and monarchs have very little overlap in time.
- The type of corn used had very little toxin in its pollen.
- They were actually feeding the caterpillars pulverized anther tissue mixed with the pollen, due to an artifact of how the pollen was collected.
Additional expert assessments:
- USDA: Q&A: Bt Corn and Monarch Butterflies
- University of Wisconsin Extension: SORTING THROUGH THE BUTTERFLY/BT POLLEN ISSUES
- Plant Physiology THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY CONTROVERSY