Getting the bugs out

Cornell insect toxicologist David Soderlund, left, shows New York State Sen. Ronald B. Stafford (R-45th Dist.), center, a new tool for insect control during a recent tour of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. Stafford, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, toured the station for five hours Sept. 3 with longtime friend Roger Forrence, right. The transgenic apple plant held by Soderlund is resistant to attack by pests because it contains a gene for a fungal protein that interferes with insect digestion. The research is of interest to Forrence, whose family grows, packs and ships apples in the Champlain Valley. The work is an example of collaborative Cornell research between entomologist Roxanne Broadway and plant pathologist Herb Aldwinckle. R.Way/NYSAES/Cornell