The breakthrough RNA technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could be set to revolutionise pest control in agriculture, according to new Australian research published in the peer-reviewed Nature Plants journal.
Key points:
- New technology developed by UQ could provide a solution to hamper the global agricultural pest whitefly
- A bio-clay spray uses the breakthrough technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines
- The RNA technology would allow farmers to target whitefly without the toxicity and residue found in conventional chemical pesticides
The University of Queensland’s Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) said its new bio-clay technology uses double-stranded RNA to protect plants from whitefly, one of global agriculture’s worst pests.
“What we are doing is targeting the essential genes of the whitefly by using their own RNA,” said research team leader Professor Neena Mitter.
Professor Mitter said the five-year research project aimed to target a significant pest in a way that was environmentally friendly and free of the toxicity and residue found in conventional pesticides.
Getting to the root of worldwide pest
Whitefly is a sap-sucking pest affecting multiple crops including cotton, pulses and vegetables.
Professor Mitter said it was responsible for both crop damage and the transmission of more than 200 viruses.
“Not only can the adult whitefly pick up the RNA, but this technology can target multiple life stages so the eggs won’t hatch, the nymphs won’t develop properly,” she said.
Professor Mitter said the cost of producing RNA had decreased significantly over the past five years thanks to an increase in the number of companies working with the technology.
“When I started working with RNA my worry was that we would not be able to make it in a cost-effective manner,” she said.
“The price we are getting now may be $2 to $5 per gram, as opposed to nearly $2,000 per gram when we first started this work.”
But the growth of RNA technology did not begin with the development of human vaccines, Professor Mitter said.
“Those companies were actually working on producing RNA for agriculture and then shifted,” she said.
Testing comes next
The bio-clay technology must still pass research and development hurdles before it can be adopted by industry, with trials set to begin under greenhouse conditions.
“It does open us a window now to test it in protected cropping or controlled environment agriculture,” Professor Mitter said.
“We know that a large number of crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, and others are being grown in greenhouse conditions and this technology should work very well.”
Senior research and development manager at the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Susan Maas, said whitefly was also a major pest for the cotton industry due to its ability to contaminate and downgrade lint quality.
But she said QAAFI’s solution would not be commercially viable for some years and price would be a factor.
“We anticipate that bio-clay will add to the options farmers have for pest and disease control, expanding the tools they have available.”
