Scientists at the University of East Anglia and Oxitec Ltd. have developed a
genetic technique to control populations of Mediterranean fruit fly
(medfly), a notorious plant pest causing extreme damage over 300 types of
fruits, vegetables, and nuts.



Medflies are currently controlled by using insecticides, baited traps,
biological control, and release of sterilized male insects that produce
non-viable offsprings. Among these techniques, the sterile insect technique
is considered as the most environment friendly. However, the sterilized
males don't tend to mate because the irradiation method used for
sterilization weakens them.



The scientists explored genetic engineering to develop healthier males. They
introduced a female-specific gene into the insects that interrupts
development before females reach a reproductive stage. Populations are grown
in controlled environments and exposed to a chemical repressor. If this
chemical repressor is absent in the GE medflies' diet, only the males
survive. The surviving males are released, mate with female pests in the
wild and pass the female specific self-limiting trait onto the progeny
resulting in no viable female offspring.



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