Declining bee populations could be saved by highly targeted new pesticides which attack parasites without harming other species.
Scientists hope to use RNA pesticides to tackle pests such as the varroa mite – a tiny red-brown parasite that latches onto bee larva and sucks the insects’ blood.
The first such next generation spray is already being used to target the Colorado potato beetle.
Researcher Dr Juan Luis Jurat-Fuentes, an expert at the University of Tennessee whose work focuses on the insect digestive system as a target for biological pesticides, said new pesticides were urgently needed.
He told the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference in Boston: “There are going to be two billion more people by 2050.
“That rapid increase in global population is going to bring a lot of issues and challenges. One of the biggest challenges is going to be the ability to produce enough food.”
The UK is home to more than 250 species of bees, which are facing increasing threats driven by climate change and the intensification of farming. Traditional pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids, can have a devastating impact on wild bees.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule that carries genetic information and helps make proteins in cells.
RNA pesticides use RNA to “silence” a gene essential to the pest’s survival in a highly targeted process that only affects the specific pest species.
The potato beetle pesticide is being rolled out by the company GreenLight Biosciences, which is also awaiting approval for a pesticide targeting varroa mites.
Dr Jurat-Fuentes said the mite pesticide was administered in a sugar fluid to the bees. He explained: “It passes to the blood. When the mites feed on their blood…it targets one of the mite genes.”
It remains to be seen how long the RNA pesticide remains effective before the pests develop resistance.
Dr Jurat-Fuentes added: “It’s not a matter of will they. It’s a matter of when will they?”
