Genetically modified organisms in agriculture — practice question

The potato plant, Solanum tuberosum, is a major food crop. Crop yield falls if the leaves of the plant are eaten by the larvae, which are the immature stages, of the Colorado beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Crop scientists used recombinant DNA technology to produce two genetically modified (GM) potato varieties. These plants make proteins that are toxic to insects. • GM potato variety A has two new genes, SN and Bt. • GM potato variety B has two new genes, SN and OCI. The new varieties were assessed by introducing a fixed number of Colorado beetle larvae to the plants at time 0 hours. The number of larvae that were still alive after 24, 48 and 72 hours was recorded. The percentage of larvae that died in each time interval was then calculated. The same procedure was repeated for potato plants that had not been genetically modified (non-GM). Table 4.1 shows the percentage of Colorado beetle larvae that died on the GM potato plant varieties and on non-GM potato plants.