The following is a slightly edited commentary from Prof. Joe Cummins, a genecitist/toxicologist. Unca Joe has long argued against the current generation of gmos and the inherent flaws dangerous to farming, consumer and the environment. Here he gives us a cautionary tale about gm monocropping of soybeans.

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Soybean rust is only new to US and Canada where it is called asian

soybean rust that blew in from South America on the hurricanes.

The fungicide used to treat it is called Headline; it is a member of a

fungicide family called strobilurins. There have been no cancer and birth

defect studies done on that fungicide as far as I can gather. The

fungus targets fungal cytochrome B respiration.

There is a tangible fear among USDA people, not because the disease is

new, so much as they have gambled on rr [Roundup Ready] soy. Most growers grow that one strain that was introduced a short time ago in genetic terms.

Essentially the whole crop is monomorphic (with little genetic variability)

thus a new disease can sweep through and wipe out everything fast.

This is reminiscent of a near total disaster in the US corn crop in the

early 1970s. Most of the crops was based on a hybrid line called the

texas (t) cytoplasm. A fungal disease appeared that depended on the

texas cytoplasm and caused about a $100 billion crop loss that lead into

a serious economic recession.

The use of rr soy poses a threat because it is monomorphic and the

lessons of that threat are clear!

3 DECEMBER 2004 VOL 306 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org 1672-3

Plant Pathologists Gear Up for Battle With Dread Fungus

No soybean can resist a rust that has finally arrived in the United

States, spurring a search for new varieties, predictive models, and

monitoring techniques.