Better bug killing through Science

By PZ Myers

I spent part of my weekend reading a very nice, detailed paper by Soderlund and Knipple (thanks for the recommendation, Nick!) on the distribution and mechanisms of mutations that confer pesticide resistance on insects. The main message is that we have been using potent pyrethroid poisons that have a common mechanism, targeting the highly conserved sodium channel of the nervous system, and that similar mutations that reduce the affinity of the channel for the pyrethroid are popping up in many insect species.

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