Pests and Parasites News

November 25, 2024

Top Headlines

Nov. 21, 2024 — Morning glory plants that can resist the effects of glyphosate also resist damage from herbivorous insects, according to a new ...

New Gene Drive Reverses Insecticide Resistance in Pests... Then Disappears

Nov. 22, 2024 — Geneticists have developed a gene drive-based solution to the widespread problem of insecticide resistance. In an effort to protect valuable crops, the researchers created an 'e-Drive' that reverses insecticide resistance and then disappears from ...

Stopping Severe Malaria by Harnessing Natural Human Antibodies

Nov. 20, 2024 — Scientists have identified human antibodies capable of targeting the proteins responsible for severe malaria, potentially paving the way for new vaccines or treatments. Using organ-on-a-chip technology, researchers successfully demonstrated that ...

HIV Latency Reversing Properties in African Plant

Nov. 19, 2024 — The Wistar Institute and the University of Buea in Cameroon has uncovered the mechanisms for a medicinal plant with anti-HIV potential in Croton oligandrus Pierre & Hutch, a species of African tree that has been used in traditional healing in ...

Latest Headlines

updated 4:45pm EST

Study Uncovers First Evidence of Resistance to Standard Malaria Treatment in African Children With Severe Malaria

Nov. 14, 2024 — An international team of researchers has uncovered evidence of partial resistance to artemisinin derivatives -- the primary treatment for malaria -- ...

Robot Identifies Plants by 'Touching' Their Leaves

Nov. 13, 2024 — Researchers have developed a robot that identifies different plant species at various stages of growth by 'touching' their leaves with an electrode. The robot can measure properties such as surface ...

From Pets to Pests: Researchers Explore New Tool to Fight Disease-Carrying Insects

Nov. 12, 2024 — Researchers are testing a product commonly used to treat ticks and fleas on pets to target fly and mosquito larvae with the goal of helping reduce ...

One Genomic Test Can Diagnose Nearly Any Infection

Nov. 12, 2024 — A genomic test developed by researchers to rapidly detect almost any kind of pathogen -- virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite -- has proved successful after a decade of ...

Insect-Killing Fungi Find Unexpected Harmony in War

Nov. 7, 2024 — A new study reveals that two strains of pathogenic fungi unexpectedly divide insect victims amongst themselves rather than aggressively compete for ...

Research Shows Caterpillar Fungus Can Slow Down Growth of Cancer Cells

Nov. 7, 2024 — New research into a chemical produced by a caterpillar fungus that has shown promise as a possible cancer treatment has revealed how it interacts with genes to interrupt cell growth signals. The ...

Not the Usual Suspects: Novel Genetic Basis of Pest Resistance to Biotech Crops

Nov. 4, 2024 — Researchers used genomics to investigate the genetic changes causing resistance to transgenic crops in field populations of the corn earworm, also ...

Deaf Male Mosquitoes Don't Mate

Nov. 5, 2024 — Romance is a complex affair in humans. There's personality, appearance, seduction, all manner of physical and social cues. Mosquitoes are much more blunt. Mating occurs for a few seconds in midair. ...

Bacteria Breakthrough Could Accelerate Mosquito Control Schemes

Nov. 4, 2024 — Mosquito larvae grow faster if they're exposed to particular bacteria, according to a new study that could help global health ...

Algae Research Provides Insight on Immune Health

Oct. 30, 2024 — Marine animals like jellyfish, corals and sea anemones often live with algae inside their cells in a symbiotic relationship. The animals give the algae nutrients and a place to live; in return, algae ...

The Reasons Flowers Wilt Could Explain How Plants Spend (and Save) Their Energy

Nov. 1, 2024 — Wilting flowers might not signal poor flower or plant health, but rather the effects of a sophisticated resource management strategy in plants, millions of years in the ...

Discovery Illuminates How Sleeping Sickness Parasite Outsmarts Immune Response

Oct. 30, 2024 — A new study sheds light on how the blood-borne parasite that causes African sleeping sickness in humans and related diseases in cattle and other animals establishes long-term infections in hosts. ...

What Animal Societies Can Teach Us About Aging

Oct. 28, 2024 — Red deer may become less sociable as they grow old to reduce the risk of picking up diseases, while older house sparrows seem to have fewer social interactions as their peers die off, according to ...

Scientific Discovery Scratching Beneath the Surface of Itchiness

Oct. 25, 2024 — A collaborative study has revealed how a specific species of mammal-targeting worms found a way around itch, allowing researchers to better understand the mammalian urge to ...

Harnessing Plant Odors to Revolutionize Sustainable Agriculture

Oct. 24, 2024 — Plants communicate through volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that help them respond to herbivorous pest attacks. This review explored the mechanisms behind these plant communications and their ...

Maternal Antibodies Interfere With Malaria Vaccine Responses

Oct. 24, 2024 — Maternal antibodies passed across the placenta can interfere with the response to the malaria vaccine, which would explain its lower efficacy in infants under five months of age, according to new ...

Polar Bears' Exposure to Pathogens Is Increasing as Their Environment Changes

Oct. 23, 2024 — As the Arctic warms, polar bears now face a greater risk of contracting several pathogens than bears three decades ago, according to a new ...

New Parasite Discovered Amid Decline of California's Unique Channel Island Fox

Oct. 23, 2024 — In the 1990s, the San Miguel Island fox nearly went extinct, with numbers dropping to just 15. A recovery program increased their population by 2010, but from 2014 to 2018, it fell to 30% of its peak ...

Key Protein for the Biosynthesis of Defense Steroids in Solanaceous Plants Discovered

Oct. 17, 2024 — Researchers identify the crucial protein for controlling the biosynthesis of steroidal glycoalkaloids and saponins in plants of the genus Solanum and for the first time demonstrate the ecological ...

The Monarch Butterfly May Not Be Endangered, but Its Migration Is, Researchers Find

Oct. 16, 2024 — With vigorous debate surrounding the health of the monarch butterfly, new research may have answered the biggest question plaguing butterfly researchers. Why are the wintering populations declining ...

Plastic Pollution Harms Bees, Review Finds

Oct. 16, 2024 — A new review systematically shows the harmful effects of nano- and microplastics on bees and other beneficial insects. Their function as pollinators is impaired by the plastic particles. This harbors ...

Changing Watering Practices to Improve Tomato Plant Health

Oct. 14, 2024 — Some people believe that talking to your plants makes them thrive. While there's limited scientific support for sound improving plant health, there's a growing amount of evidence about the ...

In a Warming World, Public Needs to Know More About Protections from Mosquito-Borne Illnesses

Oct. 8, 2024 — Driven in part by climate change, epidemics from mosquito-spread viruses are occurring with increasing frequency. Yet few among the American public are worried about getting West Nile or dengue virus ...

Dogs Contaminate Ponds With Parasite Medications

Oct. 8, 2024 — Most dog owners didn't know that flea and tick treatments are dangerous to aquatic life, suggesting more awareness could ease the ...

Rates of a Tick-Borne Parasitic Disease Are on the Rise

Oct. 8, 2024 — Rates of babesiosis, a tick-borne parasitic disease, increased an average of 9% per year in the United States between 2015 and 2022 and four in 10 patients were found to be co-infected with another ...

Plant Compound Used in Traditional Medicine May Help Fight Tuberculosis

Oct. 2, 2024 — A compound found in African wormwood -- a plant used medicinally for thousands of years to treat many types of illness -- could be effective against tuberculosis, according to a new ...

How a Bacterium Becomes a Permanent Resident in a Fungus

Oct. 2, 2024 — An organism as a tenant in another -- in biology, this often works quite well. Researchers have now shed light on how such a partnership of a cell in a cell can establish ...

Scientists Take a Major Step in Understanding How to Stop the Transmission of Malaria

Oct. 1, 2024 — Scientists have uncovered how the parasite that causes malaria orchestrates their cell division -- which is key in enabling the parasite to transmit this deadly disease. They show how they have ...

Imaging of Pathogens on Lettuce Leaves in Real-Time

Sep. 30, 2024 — As the global population surpasses 8 billion, the challenge of producing sufficient food becomes increasingly pressing. The Netherlands stands as the world's second-largest food exporter, ...

Scientists Design New Drug to Fight Malaria

Sep. 26, 2024 — A team has designed a new drug against malaria and identified its mechanism of ...