The St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Monsanto is testing a new variety of corn that is naturally resistant to the Western corn rootworm beetle. The pest costs farmers over $1 billion in crop damage every year, costs which are undoubtedly passed on to consumers. Despite the advantages, the new variety will likely draw an unfounded outcry from the nannies. Nonetheless, look for less expensive, more fully mature corn in grocery stores as soon as 2003.