At present, the development of environmentally friendly bioinsecticides for the control of agricultural insect pests and synanthropic insect species is of particular relevance. One promising approach is to use double-stranded RNA complementary to a vital insect gene to knockdown that gene through an RNA interference mechanism, resulting in the death of the insect. Using as a model object, one gene, , was selected from six paralogous actin genes based on the fact that knockdown of this gene in most tissues results in insect death. A double-stranded RNA complementary to the gene of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, was microinjected under the cuticle. RNA interference of this gene has been shown to kill cockroaches within few weeks. The prospects of using double-stranded RNA complementary to the gene as an insecticide are discussed.
K.A. Kosherova (Wed,) studied this question.