RNAi-based crop protection technology

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Herbivorous insects are responsible for destroying up to one fifth of the world's total crop production annually.Chemical pesticides continue to be the most effective method to control insect pests, but unfortunately, the vastmajority of these chemicals also kill non-target beneficial insects and can adversely affect other invertebrateand vertebrate species. New, environmentally-friendly methods of insect control are needed if we hope toprotect both the environment and our crops. The goal of this short-term research project is to explore thepotential of RNA interference (RNAi) technology to protect crops from some of our most serious economicpest insects without harming beneficial species. RNAi is a method of silencing a gene's expression usingdouble-stranded RNA (dsRNA). By feeding insects dsRNAs that turn off specific essential genes, we canselectively kill pest insects without affecting non-target species. Due to RNAi's high degree of sequencespecificity, the technology could be adapted to control many different pests in many different cropping systems.Syngenta is a leading agriculture biotechnology company interested in developing a new generation ofRNAi-based species-specific pesticides that will protect our crops to increase yields while protecting ourenvironment from dangerous broad-spectrum pesticides. Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers andexporters in the world, and the development of environmentally-safer methods of controlling agricultural pestswill not only place Canada among the leaders in the agricultural biotechnology sector, but will ensure thatCanada's agricultural products are well accepted by all markets.