A short history of insecticides

• Published in: Journal of Plant Protection Research
• Main Authors: Oberemok Volodymyr Volodymyrovych, Laikova Kateryna Volodymyrivna, Gninenko Yuri Ivanovich, Zaitsev Aleksei Sergeevich, Nyadar Palmah Mutah, Adeyemi Tajudeen Adesoji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Academy of Sciences 2015-07-01
• Subjects: biological preparations; chemical insecticides; crop protection; DNA insecticides
• Online Access: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jppr.2015.55.issue-3/jppr-2015-0033/jppr-2015-0033.xml?format=INT

This review contains a brief history of the use of insecticides. The peculiarities, main advantages, and disadvantages of some modern insecticides are described. The names of the discoverers of some of the most popular insecticide preparations on the world market, are listed. The tendencies to find new insecticides to control the quantity of phytophagous insects are discussed. Special attention is paid to the perspective of creating preparations based on nucleic acids, in particular DNA insecticides. The use of insect-specific, short single-stranded DNA fragments as DNA insecticides, is paving the way in the field of “intellectual” insecticides that “think” before they act. It is worth noting, though, that in the near future, the quantity of produced insecticides will increase due to the challenges associated with food production for a rapidly growing population. It is concluded, that an agreeable interaction of scientists and manufacturers of insecticides should lead to the selection of the most optimal solutions for insect pest control, which would be safe, affordable, and effective at the same time.