Bacterium still a major source of crop pesticide
Excerpt from the April 30, 1966, issue of Science News
![Bt peanut plants](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/043016_50ya_feat_free_0.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
SHIELDED The bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt, make a natural insecticide that kills pest larvae chowing down on crops. Today, plants are genetically engineered to produce the bacterial toxin. Lesser cornstalk borer larvae can ravage a peanut plant (above, right), but a plant with Bt genes kills hungry pests, protecting the plant (left; dead larva visible to right of plant).
Herb Pilcher/USDA Agricultural Research Service