Authors
Bryony C Bonning, Bruce D Hammock
Publication date
1992/12/1
Source
Biotechnology and genetic engineering reviews
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
455-490
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Description
The international market for insecticides is huge. Of the $20 billion annual worldwide market for pesticides, biopesticides make up less than 1%. Baculovirus pesticides account for 0-2% of this (Jutsum, 1988). The relatively small revenues from use of biological control agents has provided little incentive for industrial investment. However, a combination of factors, including increased levels of resistance to synthetic chemical insecticides, public concern over possible health problems associated with chemicals in food, and concern over environmental contamination, have focused attention on alternative means for insect pest control. The advent of recombinant DNA technology provides the potential to improve micro-organisms already in use as insect control agents. The realization that genetically altered organisms can be patented, and used for improved insect control, has provided industry with the incentive needed …
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Scholar articles
BC Bonning, BD Hammock - Biotechnology and genetic engineering reviews, 1992