Abstract

Reference: Pew 2002
Title: Three years later: Genetically Engineered Corn and the Monarch Butterfly Controversy  
Authors: Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology 
Publisher: Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, 1331 H Street, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20009 USA. 
Publication details: 2002, 19p

In the summer of 1999, Cornell entomologist John Losey sparked a worldwide controversy with the publication of a short paper in the scientific journal Nature reporting laboratory findings that monarch butterfly larvae died after eating milkweed plants dusted with pollen from genetically modified (GM) corn. That paper generated intense national and international news coverage transforming the monarch butterfly overnight into a dramatic symbol of what environmentalists and some scientists saw as the dangers of agricultural biotechnology.

Now, three years later, scientific studies show that the risks to monarchs from genetically modified corn are fairly small, primarily because the larvae are exposed only to low levels of the corn’s pollen in the real-world conditions of the field. While some long-term exposure questions remain, the feared, acute threat to monarchs from genetically modified corn appears small, particularly in comparison to other threats such as conventional pesticides and drought.

While this specific controversy may be largely over, the greater controversy over genetically modified crops is not. Can we learn anything about ways to resolve these controversies through the scientific process from a closer examination of the monarch butterfly story? In this paper, we review the chronology of the monarch butterfly controversy from the perspective of a number of key players. We also provide a brief review of the current state of scientific knowledge on the issue—what is now known, and what questions remain.

The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology believes that this retrospective of the monarch butterfly controversy will both help promote understanding of the issue and stimulate broader discussion about how this issue unfolded and how innovative methods were used to ultimately resolve some key issues in this debate.

Back to Pew Initiative page