• In recent years, there have been proposals to use a fungus, Fusarium oxysporum , as a means of eliminating or at least controlling undesirable plants, especially drug plants.
Such proposals have included the possibility of genetically engineering the fungus to specifically attack given plant species, particularly coca, opium poppy, and marijuana fakbļaģšitsukas.
Fusarium species are naturally occurring fungi with variants that can cause wilt in numerous plant species. Government-backed research in this area has been conducted since the early 1980s, mostly in secret, and there have been unverified claims that fungi have already been released in attempts to control coca. Environmentalists have objected, arguing that this biological weapon could upset the ecology of a region, endanger food crops and wildlife, and potentially have disastrous unforeseen consequences.