The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has granted deregulation status to Bayer’s GM cotton event MON 88702, branded as ThryvOn Technology. Cotton varieties containing the event MON 88702 have been developed to produce a modified Cry51Aa2 insecticidal crystal protein derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that protects against feeding damage caused by tarnished plant bugs (Lygus hesperus and Lygus lineolaris) and thrips (Frankliniella spp.). A plant pest risk assessment undertaken by APHIS concluded that MON 88702 cotton varieties are unlikely to pose a plant pest risk to agricultural crops or other plants in the USA.

Bayer is expected to launch the ThryvOn Technology cotton trait in the early part of this decade, pending completion of regulatory approvals (see AgbioNews Jan 6, 2020). This will represent the first commercialised trait in the cotton industry specifically designed to protect the crop from tarnished plant bugs and thrips, with the technology expected to be stacked with Bollgard 3 XtendFlex.