Biotech Updates

Scientists Use Plants to Silence Genes in Insects

February 3, 2012

A new method in yellow biotechnology or insect biotechnology has been employed by scientists in Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany. Ian Baldwin and colleagues study the gene function in moth larvae by manipulating genes using RNA interference technology (RNAi) and plants. They feed the larvae with plants that have been treated with viral vectors to induce silencing of genes. This new method is called plant virus based dsRNA producing system (VDPS).

"We were impressed by the high specificity of these RNAi experiments...This means that there was no collateral damage from the procedure: the gene silencing worked on only one targeted gene," said Baldwin.

Visit http://www.ice.mpg.de/ext/881.html for more details.