[img_assist|nid=231|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=43]The discovery of a new pathotype of the Papaya leaf distortion mosaic virus (PLDMV, P-TW-WF) from papaya in Taiwan shows that claims like "virus resitance" are really only of relevance to the specific virus targeted, and that new GM varieties can just as well be suspectible to other viruses - or even more so.
The new pathotype was identified from diseased papaya grown on an isolated test field where transgenic papaya lines resistant to Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) were evaluated. In a scientific article, the authors come to the conclusion that "susceptibility of all our PRSV-resistant transgenic papaya lines to PLDMV indicates that the virus is an emerging threat for the application of PRSV-resistant transgenic papaya in Taiwan and elsewhere."
So what's the point of further developing a papaya resitant to one virus, if the GM crops help the development of new pathotypes of other viruses along already during the field testing of the GMO?
Bau et al. (2008): Potential Threat of a New Pathotype of Papaya leaf distortion mosaic virus Infecting Transgenic Papaya Resistant to Papaya ringspot virus. Phytopatology 98, 848-856.