insecticides – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

A promising step toward controlling Zika virus and dengue fever

By Guest PostDecember 9, 2016Healthbinab, david eisenberg, dengue fever, duilio cascio, insecticides, larvicide, mari gingery, mosquitoes, zika virus

UCLA scientists and colleagues identify structure of a molecule that kills mosquitoes carrying malaria and West Nile

Five UCLA researchers were part of an international team that has used X-rays to reveal the structure of a molecule that is toxic to disease-carrying mosquitoes. The findings move the scientific world one step closer to genetically engineering a toxin that would be lethal to species that carry dengue fever and the Zika virus. (more…)

Closing ranks on an invader

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2013Environment, Natureash trees, asian ash trees, bwca wilderness, david zumeta, deadly insect, dnr, eab, eab killing wasps, emerald ash borer, entomology class, firewood, grand rapids, insecticides, invader, jennifer kuzma, kathy quick, magic bullet, mda, michigan, public policy problem, shawn bernick, twin cities, university of minnesota

Years ago the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, changed its policy on dealing with the emerald ash borer (EAB), a pretty but deadly insect that has killed many of the state’s ash trees.

Instead of cutting down all ash trees, they allowed residents to treat high-value trees with insecticides at their own expense, says Kathy Quick, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs who was working in Grand Rapids at the time. (more…)

Increasing Predator-Friendly Land Can Help Farmers Reduce Costs

By Guest PostMay 17, 2012Environmentcrop pests, crops, doug landis, farmers, farming areas, insecticides, ladybugs, landscape scale, megan woltz, michigan state university, natural habitat, natural killer, pest control, pests, predatory insects, rufus isaacs, soybean aphids, soybean fields, soybean pest, united states

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Having natural habitat in farming areas that supports ladybugs could help increase their abundance in crops where they control pests and help farmers reduce their costs, says a Michigan State University study.

Ladybugs and other predatory insects eat crop pests, saving farmers an estimated $4.6 billion a year on insecticides. Non-crop plants provide these predatory insects with food and shelter, helping them to survive and thrive in areas where they are needed. In an attempt to increase benefits from predatory insects, researchers have often planted strips of flowers along the edges of crop fields. (more…)

Scorpion Venom – Bad for Bugs, Good for Pesticides

By Guest PostMay 1, 2011Scienceamino acid, bugs, dong, fables, hapless turtles, insecticides, israeli desert scorpion, ke dong, michigan state university, nervous and muscular systems, neurobiologist, protect plants, protein, rapid electrical signaling, scorpion toxin, scorpion venom, scorpions, sodium channels, toxicologist, venom, voltage gated sodium channel

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Fables have long cast scorpions as bad-natured killers of hapless turtles that naively agree to ferry them across rivers. Michigan State University scientists, however, see them in a different light.

Ke Dong, MSU insect toxicologist and neurobiologist, studied the effects of scorpion venom with the hopes of finding new ways to protect plants from bugs. The results, which are published in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, have revealed new ways in which the venom works. (more…)

Pollution Triggers Genetic Resistance Mechanism in a Coastal Fish

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 20112 commentsEnvironmentacushnet river estuary, ahr2, amino acids, antibiotics, atlantic tomcod, bacteria, diana franks, Environment, evolutionary change, fish, fish populations, general electric facilities, genetic receptor, genetic resistance, hudson environment, hudson river, insecticides, insects, isaac wirgin, mark hahn, natural selection, new york, pahs, PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, protein, receptor gene, stress factors, superfund basic research, tomcod, toxicity, vertebrate population

For 30 years, two General Electric facilities released about 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into New York’s Hudson River, devastating and contaminating fish populations. Some 50 years later, one type of fish—the Atlantic tomcod—has not only survived but appears to be thriving in the hostile Hudson environment.

Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have joined colleagues from New York University (NYU) and NOAA to investigate this phenomenon and report that the tomcod living in the Hudson River have undergone a rapid evolutionary change in developing a genetic resistance to PCBs. (more…)

Tag Archives: insecticides

A promising step toward controlling Zika virus and dengue fever

Closing ranks on an invader

Increasing Predator-Friendly Land Can Help Farmers Reduce Costs

Scorpion Venom – Bad for Bugs, Good for Pesticides

Pollution Triggers Genetic Resistance Mechanism in a Coastal Fish