Science Direct – Applications of Venom Biodiversity in Agriculture
Highlights:
- Scorpion, wasp, and snake venom are being increasingly reported in patents.
- Giant Ag-biotech companies, like Monsanto, are the main assignees of these patents.
- Venom biodiversity is being used mainly to develop insect-resistant new crop varieties and biopesticides.
- Commodities like soybean, corn, cotton, rice, and wheat are the leading in new crop varieties.
- Agriculture, environment, and society are benefiting from this use of venom biodiversity and biotechnology.
Abstract
Agriculture can benefit from the biotechnological use of animal venom biodiversity. We explored the patent database to find the prevailing applications of scorpion, snake, spider, bee, and wasp venoms for agricultural purposes. We searched for patents registered worldwide using the keywords “animal species” AND “venom” associated with the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, based on Google Patents by November 2020. The results indicate an increasing frequency in patents related to animal venoms. Scorpion, snake, and wasp appeared most frequently, besides other species. The inventors concentrate on two subclasses, namely new plant varieties development (A01H) and biopesticides (A01N). Monsanto and other giant agricultural and biotechnology companies lead the list in the number of patents. New varieties of crops, like soybean, corn, cotton, rice, and wheat, are the most frequent inventions. The benefits of using natural venoms in insect-resistant plant varieties and biopesticides are pertinent to agriculture, the environment, and human health.
Science Direct – Applications of Venom Biodiversity in Agriculture
