Risks and Safety of Insecticides: Chemicals vs. Natural and Recombinant Viral Pesticides

Health safety and environmental problems associated with chemical pesticides are currently being addressed world-wide through changes in regulatory policies. The resulting increased costs associated with the development and commercialization of chemical pesticides has created a renewed interest in biopesticide products. While most biopesticide technologies are currently judged as safe, their marginal commercial efficacy (cost/benefit ratios) has slowed their development. Recombinant DNA technologies have recently been used to improve the pesticidal properties of several biopesticides, particularly the viral insecticides and entomopathogenic nematodes. It is considered, however, that the recombinant biopesticides may not share all of the inherent safety associated with naturally occurring biopesticides. In the absence of clear understanding of the risks associated with the commercialization of recombinant pesticides, genetic engineering strategies have been developed to circumvent potential environmental problems