27. Top 2006 Science Story
Per Pinstrup-Andersen
Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Nutritional Sciences, and research colleagues earned Discover magazine’s recognition as one of the top six environment stories of 2006 for their research finding that Chinese farmers used just as much pesticide to raise cotton seven years after they began planting genetically modified (GM) cotton to resist bollworm infestation. Although the GM cotton was resistant to bollworms, increased populations of other insects caused farmers to use pesticides up to 20 times during a growing season. The study, based on interviews with 481 Chinese farmers in five major cotton-producing provinces, is the first to examine the long-term impact of GM cotton.