Psyllid RNAi

The breakthrough of ribonucleic acid interference, RNAi, as an emerging technology for the management of insects and disease pathogens demonstrated highly specific insect targeting, while being safely ingested by honey bees.  RNAi products will permit focused removal of the insect pest with minimal impact on the ecosystem, while protecting beneficial and non-target insects.  Environmental fate analyses on treated soil also demonstrated rapid degradation of RNAi material within two days with no residual detected.  RNAi is based on genetic sequences and can be made to be highly specific to one insect pest, this enables targeting of single pests species, while protecting beneficial insects, such as honey bees, predators, and parasitoids.  Over 12 years of medical research data also have shown that dsRNA’s are safe for ingestion by animals and humans, which rapidly break down these types of products.  Development of topical, non-transgenic RNAi products for agriculture pest and pathogen management may finally provide a truly environmentally friendlier biopesticide for crop protection, cleaner water, and healthier ecosystems.