"Darwinian Evolution In Fast-Forward"

The NYT reports on a growing threat to US agriculture:

Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms, American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds. To fight them, [Charlie] Anderson and farmers throughout the East, Midwest and South are being forced to spray fields with more toxic herbicides, pull weeds by hand and return to more labor-intensive methods like regular plowing. “We’re back to where we were 20 years ago,” said Mr. Anderson ...

Grist's Tom Laskawy has been tracking the superweed threat for a while now (and recently warned us of superbugs). James McWilliams, on the other hand, reads through the National Research Council's "most extensive (and unbiased) report to date on the performance" of genetically engineered crops, a report that "[e]ven GE's most ardent detractors should give due consideration."