Firms Foresee High Stakes In Emerging Biopesticide Market

Genetic engineers at Crop Genetics and Mycogen place hopes on two different strategies for pest control Like Babe Ruth, John Henry sees himself as a slugger. The president and CEO of Crop Genetics International of Hanover, Md., Henry is going for a grand slam in his field of pest control: a genetically designed biopesticide against the European corn borer, a pest that munches $500 million worth of corn annually in the United States. In contrast to his heavy-hitting strategy are the efforts of

Written byRenee Twombly

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Genetic engineers at Crop Genetics and Mycogen place hopes on two different strategies for pest control

Like Babe Ruth, John Henry sees himself as a slugger. The president and CEO of Crop Genetics International of Hanover, Md., Henry is going for a grand slam in his field of pest control: a genetically designed biopesticide against the European corn borer, a pest that munches $500 million worth of corn annually in the United States. In contrast to his heavy-hitting strategy are the efforts of competing firms, which, according to Henry, are only "trying to hit singles."

John Henry may owe his interest in modernizing agriculture to, well, his genes. A distant ancestor, Cyrus McCormick, invented the reaping machine in 1831, and parlayed that into what is now International Harvester Corp. Henry wants to help usher in the next revolution in agriculture - designing a plant vaccine for the world's grain crops ...

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