 Other researchers are trying to silence genes in ants, caterpillars and pollen beetles.Monsanto will likely be first to market, with a transgenic corn seed that expresses dsRNA based on gene Snf7 from the western corn rootworm, a beetle whose larvae annually cause one billion dollars in damage in the United States alone.A 2012 paper showed that silencing Snf7 stunts larval growth, killing them within days.