Roundup resistant coca

[link|http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.11/columbia.html?tw=wn_tophead_6|Wired]

Over the past three years, rumors of a new strain of coca have circulated in the Colombian military. The new plant, samples of which are spread out on this table, goes by different names: supercoca, la millonaria. Here in the southern region it's known as Boliviana negra. The most impressive characteristic is not that it produces more leaves - though it does - but that it is resistant to glyphosate. The herbicide, known by its brand name, Roundup, is the key ingredient in the US-financed, billion-dollar aerial coca fumigation campaign that is a cornerstone of America's war on drugs.

One possible explanation: The farmers of the region may have used selective breeding to develop a hardier strain of coca. If a plant happened to demonstrate herbicide resistance, it would be more widely cultivated, and clippings would be either sold or, in many cases, given away or even stolen by other farmers. Such a peer-to-peer network could, over time, result in a coca crop that can withstand large-scale aerial spraying campaigns.

But experts in herbicide resistance suspect that there is another, more intriguing possibility: The coca plant may have been genetically modified in a lab. The technology is fairly trivial. In 1996, Monsanto commercialized its patented Roundup Ready soybean - a genetically modified plant impervious to glyphosate. The innovation ushered in an era of hyperefficient soybean production: Farmers were able to spray entire fields, killing all the weeds and leaving behind a thriving soybean crop. The arrival of Roundup Ready coca would have a similar effect - except that in this case, it would be the US doing the weed killing for the drug lords.

It appears that the farmers managed to breed a strain of Roundup resistant coca plant, which is quickly spreading across the region. There is also a passing claim that cocaine made from the new plants is somehow different then the old stuff.

I expect the US will respond by moving to a new fumigation agent. But the more powerful the agent, the greater the risks. And the farmers will breed around that also.

Jay

Post #182,789 by JayMehaffey 11/4/04 12:37:49 PM Reply	Roundup resistant coca [link\|http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.11/columbia.html?tw=wn_tophead_6\|Wired] Over the past three years, rumors of a new strain of coca have circulated in the Colombian military. The new plant, samples of which are spread out on this table, goes by different names: supercoca, la millonaria. Here in the southern region it's known as Boliviana negra. The most impressive characteristic is not that it produces more leaves - though it does - but that it is resistant to glyphosate. The herbicide, known by its brand name, Roundup, is the key ingredient in the US-financed, billion-dollar aerial coca fumigation campaign that is a cornerstone of America's war on drugs. One possible explanation: The farmers of the region may have used selective breeding to develop a hardier strain of coca. If a plant happened to demonstrate herbicide resistance, it would be more widely cultivated, and clippings would be either sold or, in many cases, given away or even stolen by other farmers. Such a peer-to-peer network could, over time, result in a coca crop that can withstand large-scale aerial spraying campaigns. But experts in herbicide resistance suspect that there is another, more intriguing possibility: The coca plant may have been genetically modified in a lab. The technology is fairly trivial. In 1996, Monsanto commercialized its patented Roundup Ready soybean - a genetically modified plant impervious to glyphosate. The innovation ushered in an era of hyperefficient soybean production: Farmers were able to spray entire fields, killing all the weeds and leaving behind a thriving soybean crop. The arrival of Roundup Ready coca would have a similar effect - except that in this case, it would be the US doing the weed killing for the drug lords. It appears that the farmers managed to breed a strain of Roundup resistant coca plant, which is quickly spreading across the region. There is also a passing claim that cocaine made from the new plants is somehow different then the old stuff. I expect the US will respond by moving to a new fumigation agent. But the more powerful the agent, the greater the risks. And the farmers will breed around that also. Jay
Post #182,792 by deSitter 11/4/04 12:42:57 PM Reply	Bolivian flak jacketed marching powder -drl
Post #182,823 by jb4 11/4/04 1:57:43 PM Reply	Roundup-ready Blow! Orion Samulson of WGN Radio will have a field day (pun intended) with that one. So...will King George of God declare genetically altered crops "evil" and "a terrerist plot", and outlaw it for Good (again, pun intended)? jb4 shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT

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