Smarter Pest Control for the Cotton Crop

Get Inside the Science:

• Smarter Toxins Help Crops Fight Resistant Pests

• Dr. Bruce Tabashnik, University of Arizona

Inside Science Buzzwords:

1. Pink Bollworm- A small, thin, gray moth that is a known threat to cotton crops. Native to Asia, the insect has infiltrated most of the world’s cotton-growing regions and reached the U.S. in particular in the 1920s. After the female moth lays eggs in the cotton plant, they hatch and feed on the plant, inflicting the damage and rendering the plant useless.
2. Entomology- A type of biology devoted to the study of insects.
3. Bioengineering- A branch of engineering that applies concepts and methods of biology to solve issues in the life sciences.
4. BT toxin- Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) is a bacterium found in soil that is used as an environmentally safe, biological pesticide.
5. Receptor- A molecule in a cell that responds to the chemical signals being emitted from that substance. The signals trigger an action in the receptor such as allowing a molecule to enter or exit the cell or to have the cell multiply or even die.
6. Enzyme- In a cell, an enzyme is a protein that speeds up chemical reactions occurring within the cell.
7. Genetic Engineering- A type of engineering involving the direct manipulation of an organism’s hereditary information that is encoded in the DNA or genetic make-up. The typical goal of genetic engineering is to produce a better version of the original organism, is this case, a plant that is resistant to the pesticides being used against the insects threatening them.