Dr. Denise Manker, from Bayer Crop Science:

The future of biocontrol tools

In this video, Denise Manker presents the innovations on which the world's major biotechnology laboratories are working, such as RNAi, to offer increasingly effective biological tools for crop protection against pests and diseases. 

A plant that defends itself against pathogenic insects by causing them to attack themselves. This is, in a nutshell, what the mechanism of action of RNAi or RNAi interfering offers. This is a biological process that allows the selective silencing of genes considered essential for the survival of the pest, enabling the self-elimination of these harmful agents.

This is one of the innovations on which the world's major laboratories are working as they prepare a new generation of biological solutions for pest control and crop protection. This is according to Dr. Denise Manker, a distinguished scientist in the area of biologics at the multinational Bayer Crop Science.

"It's a market that has added a lot more science in recent years," she said in a talk titled "Innovations coming in biocontrol". This was given at an online conference in preparation for the 2nd Congress of Biostimulants and Biocontrol that Redagrícola will hold this September 28-29 at the Westin Hotel, Lima, Peru.

In preparation for this great meeting, Manker was one of the participants in the Biostimulants and Biocontrol series that Redagrícola has carried out during the year. Several world and Latin American references in the area of bioinputs have participated in these online events, such as the Belgian Dr. Patrick du Jardin, the American Dr. Patrick Brown, the German Dr. Nicolaus von Wiren, the Colombian Dr. Alba Marina Cotes or the Brazilian Wagner Bettiol. Many of them will be part of the two-day program to be held in the Peruvian capital in September.

Dr. Manker is a researcher at Bayer Crop Science and an expert in biological products and advises growers, distributors and crop technical advisors on best practices in the use of bioinputs in several countries around the world, including Latin America.

According to Manker, many organizations are looking for environmentally friendly solutions that are consistent with the commitments signed by countries around the world on this issue, in order to move towards waste-free agriculture.

In her presentation, the researcher explained that thanks to the ability of microorganisms to exchange genetic information among themselves, combinations of microbes have been obtained that increase the effectiveness of bioinputs. By registering these products that share genetic information, they are not considered genetically modified organisms, since the entire process is carried out naturally.

"It's a very technical way to make the insect attack itself and not recognize its own machinery and break it using this RNAi technology”

Among innovations in microbial biological control research is the use of peptides, enzymes, biochemicals and interfering RNA (RNAi). The latter is a naturally occurring mechanism within cells that suppresses the expression of specific genes. Researchers are working on creating a new generation of biocontrol products that are able to emulate the natural response of plants to defend against pathogens. "It's a very technical way to make the insect attack itself and not recognize its own machinery and break it using this RNAi technology," the researcher explains.

Many laboratories and biotechnology companies are increasingly forming strategic alliances to ensure integrated work from the early stages of the process to achieve products that benefit crops. Thinking further ahead, the doctor said that work is being done to expand the scope of biological products, so that they can later address major challenges such as climate change or carbon sequestration in agriculture.

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