Tomato study suggests fruits can warn mother plants of pest attacks

Because fruits just dangle from the main plant before ultimately falling off, one might think that they are unable to communicate with that plant. According to new research, however, tomato fruits are able to transmit alerts to their mother plant when … Continue reading Tomato study suggests fruits can warn mother plants of pest attacks

Pesticide alternative coats crops to hide them from insects

While pest insects can have a devastating effect on crops, pesticides can likewise cause a great deal of damage to the environment. That’s where CropCoat comes in, as it’s designed not to kill harmful insects, but to “hide” plants from them instead.Con… Continue reading Pesticide alternative coats crops to hide them from insects

Self-deleting genes promise risk-free genetic engineering of mosquitoes

They might be small and their kills may be indirect, but for humans, mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on the planet by quite a margin. While tackling the diseases these annoying insects spread is one approach to reduce their lethality, others are l… Continue reading Self-deleting genes promise risk-free genetic engineering of mosquitoes

Fiber optic tech could save date palms from infestations

Responsible for millions of dollars in crop losses annually, the red palm weevil is a flying beetle that lays its eggs inside date palm trees. It could soon be possible to detect such infestations earlier than ever, using fiber optic cables.Continue Re… Continue reading Fiber optic tech could save date palms from infestations

Wormy chemicals used to trick crops into protecting themselves

Living in the soil, roundworms can infect plants via their roots, which is why many plants have evolved to produce an immune response when the worms are detected. Now, scientists have harnessed that response to create an eco-friendly form of … Continue reading Wormy chemicals used to trick crops into protecting themselves

The new "superbugs": Cockroaches evolve resistance to pesticides they haven't even encountered

A cockroach feeds on an insecticide in the lab portion of new experiments at Purdue University

It’s bad enough that bacteria are quickly developing resistance to our best antibiotics – now it looks like another kind of bug will soon earn the “super” moniker. Cockroaches have been known to develop resistances to individual insecticides for decades, but new research has shown that they’re also able to rapidly develop cross-resistance, even to chemicals that they’ve never been directly exposed to.

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Continue reading The new "superbugs": Cockroaches evolve resistance to pesticides they haven't even encountered