Genetically Modified Insects as a Tool for Biorational Control

Abstract

Since the dawn of agriculture, pests and plant diseases have plagued crop production. The impact of pests is perhaps no better exemplified than by the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, whose image appears on stone monuments in Egypt dating around 2400 BC (Baron 1972). Similar records of plagues by other locusts appear in very early Chinese history as well (Lima 2007). The principal feature of locust outbreaks is their unpredictable nature, much like floods, drought, hurricanes and other “natural” disasters. Not withstanding the Green Revolution in crop breeding of the 1960s, the latest breakthroughs in the history of agriculture are pesticides (ca 1940) and biotechnology (ca 1975). The former not only led to an increase in crop yield by reducing pre-harvest losses to pests, but allowed invasions to be treated and controlled. Indeed, the true value of neurotoxic insecticides is their ability to stop an insect or mite infestation immediately. This allows the grower to complete a production cycle and harvest a crop at a predictable time with a predictable yield. A dependable harvest also allows the commodity industries and government agencies to fund research and buys time for development of alternative methods of control that are more specific with fewer side effects.