Bt cotton produces a Cry toxin from *Bacillus thuringiensis* that binds to specific receptors in the insect midgut, creating pores and killing them. The toxin is only active in alkaline guts like a caterpillar's, not in the acidic stomachs of humans or animals. I know this because I just memorised it for my biotechnology end-semester, under my lamp with *ente amma's* strong chaya keeping me awake. But the obvious answer feels too neat—my uncle's neighbour in Thrissur lost his cotton fields to secondary pests anyway, so the lecture-hall theory doesn't always hold in the red soil back home.
#exams#study
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