Identifying novel insecticides and their targets: probing Australian arachnid venoms

在澳大利亚，害虫破坏了估计20 - 30亿美元的农作物。昆虫害虫也是许多新的和重新出现的人类，动物和植物疾病的传播的原因，这些疾病威胁着健康，福祉和繁荣。目前的杀虫剂受到毒性和/或昆虫抗药性的严重限制，有些杀虫剂在海外正在取消使用。因此，迫切需要开发更安全和更具体的杀虫剂，有效地对抗疾病媒介和农业害虫，以及确定新的杀虫剂目标。这项研究对农业、卫生和虫害防治部门有数百万美元的潜在效益

Insect pests destroy an estimated 2-3 billion dollars of crops in Australia. Insect pests also are responsible for the transmission of many new and re-emerging human, animal and plant diseases threatening health, wellbeing and prosperity. Current insecticides are severely limited by toxicity and/or insect resistance, and some are undergoing use cancellation overseas. Thus there is an urgent need to develop safer and more specific insecticides that are effective against disease vectors and agricultural pest insects, as well as to identify new insecticide targets. This research has a multi-million dollar potential benefit to agricultural, health and pest control sectors