Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus L.) is a dangerous insect pest of Date-Palms.  Their damage is caused by the larvae that excavate tunnels through Date-Palms’ soft tissues such as crown, top of trunk, and base of petioles.  One weevil can destroy one Date-Palm. The Red Palm Weevil causes millions of dollars of damage every year. There is no effective chemical treatment available to control the Red Palm Weevil.

We have developed new transgenic Date-Palms that are resistant to Red Palm Weevil. Through gene-pyramiding, our genetically improved Date-Palms express an array of genes that prevent infestation by Red Palm Weevils. These transgenes make our new Date-Palms inhibit feeding of and kill Red Palm Weevils.  Fruits of these transgenic Date-Palms are completely safe because introduced transgenes that control this insect are expressed only in vegetative tissues.