In this episode, Dr. George Dimopoulos (Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; ERA Chair of MicroBioPest) and Dr. John Vontas (Director, IMBB-FORTH; Professor, Agricultural University of Athens) discuss the drawbacks of relying mainly on chemical insecticides for pest and vector control, including insecticide resistance, harm to non-target species, and rising costs.

They explain how resistance develops, why pest control involves a wider ecological system rather than a single target species, and how biological control and biopesticides work as alternatives. They note that a natural origin does not guarantee safety, and that agents with delayed action can still be effective against disease transmission. The episode ends with a discussion of Integrated Pest and Vector Management (IPM/IVM) as an approach based on combining multiple control methods.

View on our YouTube Channel or listen to it on Spotify.