Drosophila as a model for assessing nanopesticide toxicity

Abstract

One of the fastest-moving fields in today's world of applied science, nanotechnology allows the control and design of matter on an extremely small scale, so it has now become an integral part of various industries and scientific areas, such as agriculture, food sector, healthcare and engineering. Understanding the interactions between nanopesticides and edible plants, as well as non-target animals, is crucial in assessing the potential impact of nanotechnology products on the environment, agriculture and human health. The dramatic increase in efforts to use nanopesticides renders the risk assessment of their toxicity and genotoxicity highly crucial due to the potential adverse impact of this relatively uncharted territory. Such widespread use naturally increases our exposure to nanopesticides, raising concerns over their possible adverse effects on humans and non-target organisms, which might include severe impairment of both male and female reproductive capacity. We therefore need better insight into such effects to derive conclusive evidence on the safety or toxicity/genotoxicity of nanopesticides, and Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) can prove an ideal model organism for the risk assessment and toxicological classification of nanopesticides, as it bears striking similarities to various systems in human body. This editorial review attempts to summarize our current knowledge derived from previous in vivo studies to examine the impact of several nanomaterials on various species of mammals and non-target model organisms at the genetic, cellular, and molecular levels, attracting attention to the possible mechanisms and potential toxic/genotoxic effects of nanopesticides widely used in agriculture on D. melanogaster as a non-target organism.

Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; in vivo model organism; Nanopesticides; environment and health; risk assessment.