Nature Communications (Jul 2018)

A user-friendly herbicide derived from photo-responsive supramolecular vesicles

  • Cheng Gao,
  • Qiaoxian Huang,
  • Qingping Lan,
  • Yu Feng,
  • Fan Tang,
  • Maggie P. M. Hoi,
  • Jianxiang Zhang,
  • Simon M. Y. Lee,
  • Ruibing Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05437-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Paraquat is a widely used herbicide that is highly toxic to humans upon acute ingestion or chronic exposure. Here, the authors generate a photosensitive formulation that releases paraquat upon exposure to UV light or sunlight, which shows an improved safety profile in zebrafish and mouse models, while maintaining substantial herbicidal activity.