There are currently 402 studies in the GENERA database.

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General Information

Document type
  • Peer-reviewed journal article
GE organism
  • corn
  • cotton
GE trait
  • insect resistance
Country
  • USA

Results

Safety for environment
  • no effect

A meta-analysis of effects of Bt crops on honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Open Access

Duan, JJ; Marvier, M; Huesing, J; Dively, G; Huang, ZY
PLoS ONE. 2008 January. 3(1):e1415

Link to full text (open access, freely available)

PMID: 18183296 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001415

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are the most important pollinators of many agricultural crops worldwide and are a key test species used in the tiered safety assessment of genetically engineered insect-resistant crops. There is concern that widespread planting of these transgenic crops could harm honey bee populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a meta-analysis of 25 studies that independently assessed potential effects of Bt Cry proteins on honey bee survival (or mortality). Our results show that Bt Cry proteins used in genetically modified crops commercialized for control of lepidopteran and coleopteran pests do not negatively affect the survival of either honey bee larvae or adults in laboratory settings. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although the additional stresses that honey bees face in the field could, in principle, modify their susceptibility to Cry proteins or lead to indirect effects, our findings support safety assessments that have not detected any direct negative effects of Bt crops for this vital insect pollinator.

Keywords

bees; Bt; field study; safety; environment

Funding

Funding source
  • Environmental Protection Agency
Funding country
  • United States
Funding type
  • government

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Cite this study

MLA

Duan, JJ, M Marvier, J Huesing, G Dively, ZY Huang. "A meta-analysis of effects of Bt crops on honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)." PLoS ONE 3.1 (2008): e1415. Web. 4 Oct. 2024.

APA

Duan, JJ., Marvier, M., Huesing, J., Dively, G., & Huang, ZY. (2008). A meta-analysis of effects of Bt crops on honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). PLoS ONE, 3(1), e1415. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001415

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