h a l f b a k e r yExpensive, difficult, slightly dangerous, not particularly effective... I'm on a roll.
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To avoid danger to people, animals and good insects, the typical insecticide can only be applied in limited amounts. This limiting of the amounts that can be applied naturally limits the effectiveness against the target species as well. One could provide almost complete safety and effectiveness by applying
a mixture of the following:
(1) Precursors to a toxin which are relatively harmless to all species
(2) An enzyme which is activated by a substance unique to the target species, and which assembles the precursors into a general-purpose, or a species-specific toxin:
Precursor One + Precursor Two + Precursor n... [Enzyme] ==> Toxin
(3) Enzymes which are activated by a substance unique to protected species, yielding products which inhibit the production of the toxin.
In practice, one would most likely need several enzymes to form the trigger-to-toxin chain of reactions for each target species. A trigger enzyme might be obtained from a pheromone receptor in the species' olfactory system, for example.
Item (3) is probably not necessary, but worth considering. For added safety, one might try including an enzyme which destroys the toxin after use.
This concept might also be useful for a "just-in-time" repellent. The repellent substance would only be produced when and where it was needed, thereby avoiding any harmful effects it may have.
This would of course also be useful for agriculture.
Sounds very similar to this...
http://books.google...insecticide&f=false
Baked?... [Alvin, Nov 17 2011]
[link]
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Why discourage him posting these ideas when they are
well intentioned? He's not stopping anyone from posting. |
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Ain't this the same as simply a toxin of the target species ?... most stuff is sortof binary with its target's makeup. |
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[21Q] I seem to recall about 3 weeks worth of "The HB Starring 21Quest" a couple years back. |
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Read [Alvin]'s profile, [21]; he (I assume from the
username)
explicitly states that his intention is to post a collection of
ideas he's had over the years, at least one of which is
absolutely fucking brilliant. Also, grow up. |
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The toxin could be a commonly used, highly potent one, but it would only be produced when triggered by the presence of a substance produced by the target species. That's the purpose of the "pheromone receptor" enzyme. This enzyme would catalyze the production of the toxin from the precursors. This design ensures that there's no toxin at any time or anywhere except when a droplet contacts the surface of a targeted pest. |
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Also, thanks for standing up for me. I really do have a large collection of ideas and I'd hate to see them go to waste when they might at least manage to inspire or entertain others. It will take me quite a while to post them all even at my present rate. |
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Consider that almost all the enzymes, proteins etc, that make up life on earth are common to all species, and that the cases where there are unique molecules they are often common to an entire family of organisms not a single species. |
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// a substance unique to the target species // |
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Once you get away from their DNA (and about 97% or more of that is common), the majority of proteins used by insects are pretty much generic. |
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The exceptions might be certian types of venom; but since most venomous insects aren't pest species, but useful bio-controls, this is not helpful. |
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So, this is either a stupid idea, or the basis for a PhD, a multi-billion-dollar industry, and quite possibly a Nobel prize. |
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At this point, the jury is still out. |
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8th of 7,
Perhaps I didn't stress the word "pheromone" enough. Pheromones are complex organic compounds, but not proteins. Also, they are (hopefully) unique enough to each species for this purpose. |
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Keep 'em coming, [Alvin]. |
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//So, this is either a stupid idea, or the basis for a PhD, a multi-billion-dollar industry, and quite possibly a Nobel prize.// |
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[Marked-For-Tagline] Although possibly to long of one. |
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/An enzyme which is activated by a substance
unique to the target species, and which assembles
the precursors into a general-purpose, or a
species-specific toxin:/ |
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Custom making an enzyme which works on a toxin
and is itself activated by a third substance seems
iffy: I think custom made enzymes would be hard.
Since enzymes usually require certain conditions
(moisture, pH etc) to work best, and organisms
come already full of enzymes, this sort of strategy
usually uses an enzyme already present in the
target species. What you have then is a "prodrug"
- inactive stuff which is enzymatically activated
somehow in the target organism. Enzyme levels
and activity do vary from species to species - even
from human to human - an example here is
aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency in asians,
which makes their faces turn bright red when they
get into the liquor. |
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I think that the different toxicities of medicines
for different animal species have to do with
species specificity of their enzymatic handling -
cats and tylenol being an example. |
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I do not know if any currently used insecticides
are prodrugs but if you google prodrug and
insecticide you will find lots of people fired up
about the possibility. |
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bungston,
A custom enzyme would be a last resort for this. What I expect is that knowledge of the properties of existing enzymes could be used to find a suitable chain of reactions leading ultimately to the production of the toxin. The reaction chain chosen might very well be a long one though due to limited data.
Also, it could easily have stabilizers added for moisture and pH. |
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//either a stupid idea, or the basis for a PhD// I
don't understand what the "or" is doing in that
sentence. |
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