MIT Tech Review on RNA sprays

Next up: spray-on GMOs

MIT Technology Review

Get ready to hear A LOT about Monsanto’s latest GMO. The biotech firm says their new RNA-based sprays could be a miracle-worker-- silencing specific genes in a plant for just a few days at a time, precisely killing only target insects and harmlessly degrading into the soil. Monsanto hopes that the sprays will go over better with the public than traditional GMOs have, since RNA occurs naturally in all living things. But advocacy groups like the National Honeybee Board Advisory want the EPA to proceed with extreme caution, especially since the sprays are in part designed to be used in conjunction with weedkillers like RoundUp to combat superweeds.