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Save the Bees!

Pesticide use has long been debated amongst scientists, environmentalists, botanists, politicians, and academics. These discussions are most definitely warranted, considering the potential dangers that can stem from pesticide use.

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was used by farmers in the United States throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s. It served as a form of pest control. DDT was also used by the military to control diseases such as malaria, typhus, and the bubonic plague (National Pesticide Information Center).

The use of this substance was banned in the year 1972 because they discovered it caused a myriad of health issues for animals and the environment. Studies have proven that DDT can stimulate tumor growth in animals, which prompted the CDC to label it a B2 carcinogen. There is also evidence to show that animals can produce offspring with birth defects due to DDT digestion (National Pesticide Information Center).

DDT was also damaging to wildlife. Once the pesticide entered the soil, it was very easy for it to infect any nearby water sources. It was then discovered that DDT is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. It caused deterioration to their major organs, including the heart and brain (National Pesticide Information Center).

This is an example of how the misguided or uninformed use of a pesticide can be harmful to both the environment itself and those living in it. The good news is that strides have been taken to develop much safer and effective biological technology.

I recently read an article titled “Genetic Weapon Against Insects Raises Hope and Fear in Farming.” It discusses the development of new pesticide technology that minimizes the harmful effects to beneficial insects using a technique called RNA interference (Pollack).

RNA interference can change the degree in which a gene is expressed. This means that the substance can be targeted to a very specific piece of RNA. Previously, a pesticide that was aimed to kill just one organism actually killed many others living in the environment as well. This was because the components did not have the ability to isolate a single type of organism (Pollack).

The use of RNA interference resolves that issue. We now have the power to create a substance that will be genetically modified to attack a single breed of pest. This will make each pesticide used safer for humans, safer for the environment, and safer for the beneficial insects living in our environment.

I’m sure everyone has seen a poster, an ad, or a commercial informing us of the epidemic that is the dying bee population. Bees are one of the beneficial insects living in our environment. Why are they so important? They pollinate so many important plants. Without bees our farming industry will collapse. We will have a shortage of fruits and vegetables. It will also become very difficult to produce and market any product that is plant based.

One organism that damages crops is the mite, however mites live on bees. This means that bees are being killed in the process of protecting plants from mites. Luckily, RNA interference will eliminate the threat of pesticides to the bee population. Scientists can synthesize a substance targeted only toward the mites. What I found interesting is that this new substance will be eaten by the bees, and therefore kill the mites through proxy (Pollack).

I think that applying RNA interference to the farming industry will have a great impact on our environment.

Sources:

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/business/energy-environment/genetic-weapon-against-insects-raises-hope-and-fear-in-farming.html