Novel insecticides: Mechanism

Insects continue to devastate human, animal and plant health by the various pathogenic agents they transmit. Although the traditional strategies aimed at insect population reduction have been successful, various challenges threaten their sustainable applicability. It is hoped that the new knowledge gained from insect genomics, functional biology as it relates to insect physiology and vectorial biology will now augment these traditional strategies and also provide novel new control methods. One such system involves tsetse flies that transmit African trypanosomes, agents of devastating fatal diseases in humans and animals. While trypanosomiasis control to date has relied on traditional population reduction methods, knowledge gained from the ongoing tsetse genome project, tsetse-trypanosome interactive biology and expanded information on tsetse’s symbiotic partners stand to generate new tools.