Hi everyone,
This post will evolve around another aspect instead of the medical and clinical side: nature, plants, crops… . Insects enjoy plants and crops as much as we do but we have to pay the price. Not only in form of crop losses and insecticides but also in the evolution towards an insecticide resistance. This means new and alternative solutions need to be found.
One of them is using a bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis which replaced a major part of the chemical insecticides. But unfortunate not every insect group is amenable for this kind of protection.
The second (possible) solution, you may have already guessed it, is RNA interference. They introduce trigger RNA into the plant which forms some kind of “diet” for the insects. The trigger RNA, as the word implies, triggers a specific cascade in the insect’s body, weakens the insect which will eventually killed them.
As you may know, every RNA interference process isn’t that simple. Many enzymes, structures, processes are involved. RNA interference needs a lot of research but the results shown are already promising.
Do you think is it necessary to search for this kind of problems? Or do we have to leave nature alone and let it evolve the way nature wants it?
Quote of the day: Plant and your spouse plants with you; weed and you weed alone. –Jean-Jacques Rousseau
X – Jooske
Jooske Visser 
Very interesting for farmers to protect their plants against insects. However, I think there are some downsides like what will happen if you create a plant which is resistant for everything? This plant will overrule all the other plants and will create a lot of problems. Also nature will respond to this. First the insects will indeed die but wouldn’t they make themselves resistent for the plants in a few years (a bit like survival of the fittest) like what is happening with the insecticides?
I believe we have to interfere with nature if we want to protect our plants but I think RNA interference is maybe one bridge to far.
Kind Regards,
Bram
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I don’t quite know if changing a small thing will cause such big problems. This world indeed evolved around “survival of the fittests” so it’s just a human interference to make some crops the fittests. But indeed we see the same problem with the resistance of antibiotics. Because of the wrong and unnecessary use of AB people make the bacteria resistant. So maybe the same thing will happen with those insects.
But we don’t have to forget that RNA interference is a natural en biological process so if the insects will get resistent, shouldn’t they already have?
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Hi!
Interesting article, it’s a very interesting technology, but it also has lots of challenges.
Personally I do think that this kind of technology can really make a difference.
Think about countries where there is too less food for too many people. With people putting ever more pressure on our planet, i think it is almost a “needed” way to search for ways to optimize our current ways of supplying food?
Of course, there always will be downsides. But, as long as we still will be able to control them (for example: we could make sure that there those plants will only be planted in controlled environments,..) the upsides will be eventually overcome the downsides?
Another question maybe: Do you have an idea of some research on how this technology will affect the nature in a more general context (it’s not only about the plants/insects i guess, but also the soil, air, water,.. quality will be affected?) or can this be neglected?
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Hi steve,
Thank you for your reaction!
I searched the web and found a report from the united states environmental protection agency where they indeed pose the question of there are any downsides about this technology. They consider the human health and ecological risk. And indeed they speak about unintented outcomes from the RNAi, the “fate” of the dsDNA, effects on the absorption (so this will decrease the effect) etc.
So there are a few things to take into consideration and maybe if this technology is done in a very controlled environment as you say, it will be possible!
reference: http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap/meetings/2014/january/012814minutes.pdf
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Just as Steven mentioned before, I see a lot of potential of this technique, especially in the developing countries. Famine is a major problem there, and this kind of techniques could help.
But there is one concern I have: developing and optimizing such a technique costs a lot of money, and the only way to earn that money back is to patent and sell the developed product. I am afraid such situations will have an adverse effect on the problems in these developing countries. Bigger companies will be able to buy these modified plants, but smaller businesses will have to keep with their conventional techniques. I think this will enlarge the gap between the rich and the poor companies (as well as between the rich and the poor countries).
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You have a point Arnout!
And because of the challenges this technique still has, further resaerch needs to be done to optimize the technique.
But don’t you think that at a certain point everyone needs to evolve along with technology? I don’t think that every company can stay working using old fashion ways of production or techniques.
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Of course, companies using less optimal techniques will come behind so they will be forced to invest in the newer ones. But when smaller companies are unable to finance these investments, they will go bankrupt (because of the competition). Eventually multinationals (e.g. the company that invested in the developing of the technique) will buy their assets, and grow to a monopoly.
Such a monopoly is a disaster for the economical side of the story. Not only will competition between companies (and thus lower prices for the customers) disappear, but also production will be grouped in low cost countries, and local economies will suffer form that.
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Let’s hope it doens’t get so far because imagine the world with only these multi nationals were thousends of people work! I think it wouldn’t be a nice place.
The government need to keep investing is small companies so this kinds of problems can be evoided!
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