News in brief:
– Renaissance Bioscience is developing an RNA-based pest control solution using baker’s yeast as a delivery system.
– The company is aiming to create a safe and effective pesticide that is so precise, it only harms targeted organisms.
Renaissance Bioscience, a bioengineering company based in Canada, is working on a precise tool to eradicate pests from farmlands.
The comapny’s innovation is related to RNA molecules that can interfere with specific mRNA molecules in pests but remain harmless to the soil, plants or other wildlife in the surrounding.
According to CEO, Dr. John Husnik, the company stands apart from others who have been working on RNAi technology by creating a delivery mechanism (called baker’s yeast) that allows RNA be stored for lengthy periods and protects it.
The combination of yeast and RNA reduces its sensitivity to degradation, especially when it is applied to the field. It also allows it to be used together with herbicides, fungicides and adjuvants without losing its efficacy.
However, the solution currently only works on chewing insects, like the Colorado potato beetles, and there are pests like sucking insects.
Renaissance Bioscience plans to partners with companies experinece in working with regulators so that it can get its innovative product to market. It has an agreement with Certis Belchim, a crop protection company in Netherlands that will aid it in commercialising environmentally friendly organic pesticide.
Although, the CEO claimed that there is not much to worry about in terms of regulation because the yeast is inert and cannot multiply in the field. Instead, the active ingredient, the RNA molecule that does the work of stopping pests will be the main focus. He adds that his team can show that it does not harm birds, bees, and humans, even when they come in direct contact or consume it.
Husnik has not named the particular pest that the first set of products will target. “The next step is working with companies around the world that have different insect issues in their regions so we can go after multiple insects, do joint development agreements and work together,” he told a publication.
