SPRAY away? Pesticides that work by tinkering with gene expression in the pest without modifying crop genes could get around regulations on genetic modification. The technology is based on a process called RNA interference and may be ready within the next five years.
In June, researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, spray can kill the Colorado potato beetle, protecting potato plants for more than 28 days (Pest Management Science, ). 鈥淭his is a technology that could allow the development of a whole new generation of agrichemicals,鈥� says of the University of Cambridge.
聯This technology could allow the development of a whole new generation of agrichemicals聰
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Industry is taking notice. Monsanto spray ready by 2020 that will tackle potato beetles resistant to many other types of pesticide. Because this approach silences genes but does not introduce heritable changes into the genome, it may not be regulated as a GM product. 鈥淚n effect these are chemical pesticides, they just happen to be RNA,鈥� says Baulcombe.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪witch off, kill pest鈥�