Laser technology has revolutionized a wide variety of fields ranging from communications to medicine. Now the technology appears to have tremendous potential as a weapon against crop-destroying insects and food-spoiling microorganisms, according to a UC Davis scientist. In studying ultraviolet laser technology at UC Davis' Crocker Nuclear Laboratory, research chemist Manuel Lagunas-Solar has found that ultraviolet lasers can disrupt the genetic material inside certain microbes, destroying their ability to grow, reproduce and cause food to rot. In one test, laser-treated tomatoes remained unspoiled for 11 weeks at room temperature. Although the mode of action is different, the laser demonstrated equally lethal effects on insects. Fiber optics coupled with other currently available technology could make the ultraviolet laser available to farmers and food processors within a few years, Lagunas-Solar predicts.