Success of new bug-fighting approach may vary from field to field
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 09:30
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org) —A new technique to fight crop insect pests may affect different insect populations differently, researchers report. They analyzed RNA interference (RNAi), a method that uses genetic material to "silence" specific genes – in this case genes known to give insect pests an advantage. The researchers found that western corn rootworm beetles that are already resistant to crop rotation are in some cases also less vulnerable to RNAi.