Pesticides News and Research

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Study Reveals How eDNA Could Bear Fruit for Farmers and the Environment

A Curtin University study has revealed a new method of capturing DNA could provide farmers with a valuable tool for boosting crop production — while also benefiting the environment.

29 Nov 2024

Self-Eliminating e-Drive System Reverses Insecticide Resistance in Fruit Flies

Insecticides have been used for centuries to counteract widespread pest damage to valuable food crops. Eventually, over time, beetles, moths, flies and other insects develop genetic mutations that render the insecticide chemicals ineffective.

25 Nov 2024

Novel Mechanism of Resistance to Bt Crops in a Major Agricultural Pest

Insect pests can destroy crops if they are not controlled. Crops that produce bacterial proteins that kill important pests without endangering humans or wildlife have been genetically modified to limit damage and lessen the need for insecticide sprays.

5 Nov 2024

Groundbreaking Study Reveals New Insights into Fruit Fly Reproduction

You have likely not spent much time thinking about the uterus of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.

28 Oct 2024

Revolutionizing Food Security with Plant Immune Responses

As the climate crisis alters familiar growing conditions, we urgently need to find ways of protecting the world against famines.

16 Oct 2024

Pesticide Exposure Strongly Correlated with Fewer Wild Bee Sightings

Whether you're strolling through a garden, wandering a park, or simply enjoying an open space in the United States, you're likely to notice bees buzzing about the flowers. While honeybees, imported from Europe in the 17th century to produce honey, are the most recognizable, they aren't the only bees at work. If you're a keen observer, you might spot some of the thousands of less familiar, native bee species that call these spaces home.

28 Aug 2024

Honeybees Contribute to Bumble Bee Virus Prevalence

Honey bees might contribute to rising virus levels in wild bumble bees each spring, according to Penn State researchers who studied seasonal patterns of parasite and virus transmission in bees.

22 Aug 2024

New 3D-Printed Chip Rapidly Detects Four Major Foodborne Pathogens

A cost-effective three-dimensional (3D)-printed microchip with an aptamer sensor that can detect four foodborne pathogens.

8 Jul 2024

Exploring the Potential of Bacteriophages

Bacteriophages, viruses that target and destroy bacteria, are ubiquitous in the natural world. They play a crucial role in controlling microbe populations, though the mechanisms behind this regulation are not yet fully understood.

14 Jun 2024

Metrovate is Developing Precision Biostimulants for More Effective and Sustainable Farming Outcomes

Metrovate has announced a $1 million capital raise by Sprout Agritech LP to fund the development of New Zealand’s first precision biostimulant for agriculture.

From Metrovate 14 May 2024

Using Genomic Methods to Track Pesticide Resistance

Pesticides are used by farmers to manage agricultural pests. However, pesticide-resistant insects frequently become immune to their toxins.

19 Mar 2024

Quorum Bio: Where Synthetic Biology Meets Sustainable Farming

We speak with Sudharsan Dwaraknath, CEO of Quorum Bio, a synthetic biology startup developing sustainable agricultural technologies.

From Quorum Bio 12 Feb 2024

IRIDESENSE Unveils the World’s First Laser Device Capable of Analyzing Plant Health Remotely

At CES 2024, IRIDESENSE is unveiling the first 3D Multispectral LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor capable of analyzing plant health and soil humidity levels remotely in real-time.

19 Jan 2024

The Role of Temperature and Land Cover in Shaping Arthropod Biodiversity

People rarely pay much attention to spiders and insects other than when humans swat them away. But as a hard exoskeleton and jointed legs identify arthropods, they are vital to maintaining the ecosystems upon which humans depend. Arthropods comprise an astounding 84% of all known animal species.

16 Jan 2024

Honeybees Directly Provide Nutrients to Gut Bacteria

Bacteria have adapted to all terrestrial environments. Some have evolved to survive in the gut of animals, where they play an important role for their host; they provide energy by degrading indigestible food, they train and regulate the immune system, they protect against invasion by pathogenic bacteria, and they synthesize neuroactive molecules that regulate the behavior and cognition of their host.

16 Jan 2024

Engineering Plants to Fight Disease with Friendly Bacteria

For the first time, scientists have modified the plant microbiome to increase the amount of “good” bacteria that shield the plant from harm.

8 Jan 2024

Toxic Plant Toxin Gets a Safety Upgrade for New Drugs and Pesticides

Picrotoxinin, a plant-derived toxin that Asian fishermen traditionally have used to paralyze and catch fish, has long been seen as a possible starting point for new human therapeutics and other neuroactive products.

26 Dec 2023

Researchers Discover Core Genes for Bacteria Colonizing Plants

Using a novel experimental approach, Max Planck researchers have discovered a core set of genes required by commensal bacteria to colonize their plant hosts.

20 Dec 2023

Pesticide Sprays and Olfactory Disruption in Honey Bee Communication

For a considerable period, the detrimental impact of pesticide sprays on honey bees has been recognized. In a recent study, researchers have unraveled the consequences of such sprays on the sense of smell in bees, potentially disrupting their social signals.

18 Dec 2023