RNAi-Based Pesticides: A New Tool to Improve Sustainable Agriculture, between Real Opportunities of Suitable Applications and Facing Legal Vacuum and Citizen Bias

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we have accepted the assignment to edit a Special Issue of Sustainability on the hot topic of RNAi-based products. This Special Issue will focus on the most recent advancements in research on this new class of bioproducts that appear promising in terms of a true revolution in sustainable agriculture and arboriculture; it will also focus on updated and debating reviews on this topic, given its fast evolution and the delay of its implementation in international law and regulations, and possible difficult acceptance by public opinion.

RNAi-based products, in particular RNAi-based biopesticides, could offer a suitable tool of plant protection in the context of international organization strategies, such as the European Commission Green Deal or the United Nations Environmental Program policies, wherein the use of chemical pesticides is increasingly subjected to restrictions, and a strong reduction of risks associated with hazardous pesticides is promoted, in view of an improved integrated pest management. RNAi-based control offers the fundamental advantage of being very selective, by silencing specific genes of the target pathogen or pest species, with minor effects on non-target organisms; moreover, in the case of exogenous application, the dsRNA active molecule is rapidly degraded by UV radiation, nucleases, and other environmental factors. Another favorable point is that dsRNA is probably scarcely hazardous for vertebrates due to the many physiological barriers to such molecules. Several aspects of uncertainty, however, persist with reference to processing, efficiency improvement, risk assessment, and possible placing on the market of dsRNA biopesticides, because the present regulating framework does not fit with such products and is not suitable for their technical evaluation, as against conventional PPPs.

In this perspective, with the scope of exploiting the introduction of RNAi-based pesticides in integrated pest management, the purpose of this Special Issue is that of highlighting strength points and vulnerabilities of such technology and of its impact in sustainable agriculture, both in scientific and regulatory aspects.

Dr. Massimo Gennaro
Dr. Achille Giorcelli
Guest Editors

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• RNAi-based pesticides
• gene silencing
• RNA interference
• integrated pest management (IPM)
• plant protection products (PPPs)
• pesticide legal regulation
• risk assessment