To be able to grow biodegradable polymers is, in a way, to return us to the way we evolved, with biologically derived food and fibers and building materials. These useful pesticides still pose a direct danger to people. Their continued heavy use also interferes with efforts to control crop pests by less harmful methods. That's why pest-control scientists attending last week's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Atlanta were urging renewed efforts to cut down on pesticide use. Clearly, there must be a better way.
Entomologists call it integrated pest management.
It's a mix of techniques tailored in each case to the needs of individual farmers. The strategy includes growing crops designed to resists pests, making allies of pests' natural enemies, and, where necessary, still using chemicals. The tools for integrated pest management are improving. Plants such as cotton, potato and corn have benefited from the addition of a gene, enabling them to produce their own insecticides. Eventually, however, some pests developed resistance to the introduced protein.