RNAi and Bt approaches to insect-pest control: analyses and perspectives on trends in global patent publications

: Insect-pests are a limiting factor in increasing agricultural production worldwide. Although major crops, including soybean (Glycine max), maize (Zea mays), and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), face high pesticide costs in an attempt to mitigate or control pests, losses of up to 40% of production are recorded every year. In this scenario, transgenic crops remain one of the most promising biotechnological tools for reducing chemical pesticide costs. For instance, transgenic and non-transgenic technologies have been applied based on powerful approaches using double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to silence essential genes of target insect-pests to silence them through RNA interference (RNAi) as well as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins. Thus, patents using both dsRNA- and Bt-based technologies for insect-pest control in soybean, maize, and cotton crops were selected and evaluated in this study. We also compiled an updated list of countries and biotech companies that have filed patents using dsRNA or Bt-based technologies. We have used the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) PatentScope international patent database to perform eight search strategies, using combinations of keywords and logical operators for patent search and retrieval. As a result, 93.9% of all selected patents were related to transgenic crops, whereas 6.1% were related to non-transgenic delivery approaches. Moreover, 51.2% of the patents described protection of Bt in transgenic crops, followed by 42.7% for RNAi in transgenic crops and 5.2% and 0.9% for non-transgenic Bt and RNAi technologies, respectively. Therefore, the current study attempts to promote innovative approaches based on existing and patented technologies to improve insect-pest control in crop plants.