Editing Bacillus thuringiensis (section)

====Lepidopteran toxicity====
The most publicised problem associated with Bt crops is the claim that pollen from Bt maize could kill the [[monarch butterfly]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Losey JE, Rayor LS, Carter ME | title = Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae | journal = Nature | volume = 399 | issue = 6733 | pages = 214 | date = May 1999 | pmid = 10353241 | doi = 10.1038/20338 | bibcode = 1999Natur.399..214L | s2cid = 4424836 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The paper produced a public uproar and demonstrations against Bt maize; however by 2001 several follow-up studies coordinated by the USDA had asserted that "the most common types of Bt maize pollen are not toxic to monarch larvae in concentrations the insects would encounter in the fields."<ref name=Waltz>{{cite journal | vauthors = Waltz E | journal = Nature News | date = 2 September 2009 | doi = 10.1038/461027a | title = GM crops: Battlefield | volume = 461 | issue = 7260 | pages = 27–32 | pmid = 19727179 | s2cid = 205048726 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mendelsohn M, Kough J, Vaituzis Z, Matthews K | title = Are Bt crops safe? | journal = Nature Biotechnology | volume = 21 | issue = 9 | pages = 1003–9 | date = September 2003 | pmid = 12949561 | doi = 10.1038/nbt0903-1003 | s2cid = 16392889 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1233343 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hellmich RL, Siegfried BD, Sears MK, Stanley-Horn DE, Daniels MJ, Mattila HR, Spencer T, Bidne KG, Lewis LC | title = Monarch larvae sensitivity to Bacillus thuringiensis- purified proteins and pollen | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 98 | issue = 21 | pages = 11925–30 | date = October 2001 | pmid = 11559841 | pmc = 59744 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.211297698 | bibcode = 2001PNAS...9811925H | display-authors = 6 | jstor = 3056825 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/btcorn/ |title=Bt Corn and Monarch Butterflies |date=2004-03-29 |work=USDA Agricultural Research Service |access-date=2008-11-23| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081106062846/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/btcorn/| archive-date= 6 November 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> Similarly, ''B. thuringiensis'' has been widely used for controlling ''[[Spodoptera littoralis]]'' larvae growth due to their detrimental pest activities in Africa and Southern Europe. However, ''[[Spodoptera littoralis|S. littoralis]]'' showed resistance to many strains of ''B. thuriginesis'' and were only effectively controlled by a few strains.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Salama HS, Foda MS, Sharaby A|title=A proposed new biological standard for bioassay of bacterial insecticides vs. Spodoptera spp.|journal=Tropical Pest Management|date=1989|volume=35|issue=3|pages=326–330|url=https://www.cabi.org/isc/abstract/19901181560|doi=10.1080/09670878909371391|access-date=2017-11-12|archive-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929194738/https://www.cabi.org/isc/abstract/19901181560|url-status=dead}}</ref>