Selection and Optimal Expression of Insect Anti-Growth Proteins

Insects are major pests of plant and animal food and fiber and also vector diseases causing millions of human deaths and untold suffering annually. Moreover, our efforts to control insect pests have caused massive environmental contamination and continue to cause many human and animal fatalities annually. Biotechnology offers alternatives to conventional pest control that have great promise although, like other technological innovations, there is resistance to its use and it carries some risks with which we have little prior experience. Plant expression of the cry toxin genes from Bacillus thuringensis is a proven technology in usage in multiple cropping systems generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue annually. However, plant transgenic technologies are overly reliant upon the Bt genes for insect control. Development of insects resistant to the Bt toxin could result in widespread failures in pest control. Paratech was established to begin commercialization of the cys-rich genes as an alternative technology with a simplified intellectual property position that may be attractive. The technology under investigation is derived from viral and teratocyte proteins that inhibit insect growth and development.