Transgenic bio-engineering involves inserting genes into one species from another in order to gain some advantage. They eat many insects that are harmful to crops and flowers.
Ladybugs are part of the natural system.
The ladybugs also laid fewer eggs. Fears of genetic engineering critics were fanned by the news that ladybugs were damaged by eating insects feeding on altered potatoes. Scientists in Scotland now urge caution in the introduction of genetically modified crops after discovering that they could harm ladybugs. Nick Birch and a team from the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee are responsible for discovering the reduced fertility and lifespan of the ladybugs. The potato plant in question had been altered to produce a natural insecticide that deterred aphids from eating them.