THE news that a weedkiller commonly used with genetically modified crops might speed up the growth of a devastating fungus will doubtless have opponents of GM crowing with delight. But that reaction would be foolish.
Preliminary results from Canadian researchers suggest that glyphosate weedkiller (sold as Roundup by Monsanto) may accelerate growth of fusarium fungi that damage wheat (see “Weedkiller may encourage blight”). But the new research is not so much a blow to GM as a demonstration of a principle that applies to all changes in farming practice: every change is likely to have some unpredicted effects. As…
