Transgenic agriculture has gained more ground—and stirred more debate—following Brazil’s decision to allow commercial use of a new, gene-altered variety of soy that is resistant to the herbicide dicamba. Maria Sueli Soares, a research agronomist on the 27-member National Technical Commission for Biosafety (CTNBio), which oversees such licensing, called the approval “a big step forward.” The commission says the soy variety, produced by Monsanto and approved for use in Brazil in December, addresses a growing problem: that soy-plantation weeds have become resistant to glyphosate-based herbicide. For environmental advocates, however, the move furthers a worrisome slippery slope in which large-scale transgenic agriculture fuels deepening dependence on harmful chemicals as weeds become resistant to herbicide used in conjunction with gene... [Log in to read more]