Also known as ''supercoca'' or ''la millionaria'', '''Boliviana Negra''' is a relatively new form of [[coca]] that is resistant to [[herbicide]] [[Roundup]], or the isopropylamine salt of [[glyphosate]]. The coca plant is the precursor to the [[drug addiction|addictive]] [[stimulant]] [[cocaine]], one of the most widely consumed [[illegal drugs]] in the world and the source of large amounts of money to various criminal organizations. Since Roundup is a key ingredient in the multibillion-dollar aerial [[coca eradication]] campaign undertaken by the government of [[Colombia]] with US financial and military backing known as [[Plan Colombia]], increasing popularity of ''Boliviana negra'' amongst growers could have serious repurcussions for the [[War on Drugs]].
The herbicide resistance of this strain has at least two possible explanations: that a '“[[peer-to-peer]]'” network of coca farmers used [[plant breeding|selective breeding]] to enhance this trait through tireless effort, or the plant was [[genetic engineering|genetically modified]] in a [[laboratory]]. In 1996, a [[biological patent|patented]] Roundup Ready or glyphosate-resistant [[soybean]] was marketed by [[Monsanto]], suggesting that it would be possible to genetically modify coca in an analogous manner. Spraying ''Boliviana negra'' with glyphosate would serve to strengthen its growth by eliminating the non-resistant [[weed]]s surrounding it. Joshua Davis, in the ''Wired'' article cited below, found no evidence of CP4, a protein produced by the Roundup Ready soybean, suggesting ''Bolivana negra'' was not created in a laboratory but by selective breeding in the fields.
A [[fungus]], ''[[Fusarium oxysporum]]'', has been suggested as a possible successor to glyphosate, although this itself poses hazards to humans and other plant species.
