dsRNAEngineer: a web-based tool of comprehensive dsRNA design for pest control

Over the past two decades, many double-stranded (ds)-RNAs have been synthesized to silence target genes for exploration of gene functions in pests. Some of these dsRNAs are lethal to pests, leading to a new category of pesticides. The generation of these environmentally friendly pesticides requires precise in silico design of dsRNA molecules that target pests but not non-pest organisms. Current efforts in dsRNA design focus mainly on the analysis of the target gene sequence, lacking comprehensive analysis of all transcripts of the whole transcriptome per given species, causing low efficiency and imprecise dsRNA target exploration. To address these limitations, we created the dsRNAEngineer online platform (https://dsrna-engineer.cn), which allows comprehensive and rational dsRNA design, incorporating hundreds of pest and non-pest transcriptomes. Developed functionalities include screen-target (screen conserved genes for cotargets of various pest species), on-target, off-target, and multi-target to generate optimal dsRNA for precise pest control.