The Boyce Thompson Institute is located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
4 Likes
Thank you for posting this Richard!! So long ago in a discussion with people on the use of imidicloraprid and other pesticides i was trying to find a earlier study just like this where they showed plants communicate with the beneficial nematodes and that plants treated with pesticides would not! This is why i think some of us have great success with natural methods and other people do not!
1 Like
@RichardRoundTree -
Your conclusion omits how effective or ineffective plants are in repelling nematodes. Notice that the authors are interested in the development of a pesticide or pesticide additive based on their research.
I am not sure how to conclude that Richard. Yes they were definitely using nature to try and make something they can copyright because cash rules everything, There is not an abundance of grants or anything that goes to further general knowledge, usually even the grants are done to create a product or for a commercial purpose. Still its a excellent article and when scientist learn that plants can communicate the way many people have thought for many years that it is a win.
Fascinating!
@RichardRoundTree -
My statement about product development was not a criticism of their work. Rather, that plants do not have enough of a natural defense to ward off nematodes in many situations. In no way is their work a vindication of “natural methods”. Instead it is an example of great biological detective work in developing better ways to protect crops.
Also, these folks are not desperate for funding. They are at a fully-funded research institute.
So you wouldn’t be able to apply a bunch of beneficial nematodes to an area infected by pests nematodes? I feel this proves that plants naturally already use beneficial nematodes to protect themselves and have an idea of how pest nematodes signal each other and ways to fight them off naturally. It may not be fair to say the natural system does not work when it is not really tried. I did not say they were desperate for funding I think most science research is being funded for business in general and that was just a statement of how things are today and I am not saying this is a bad thing just we should understand that a lot of things have a bias or a purpose and it may not be to support general knowledge or the wellbeing of our environment or plants, still great article.
1 Like