World's first attempt to release cabbage pests by releasing genetically modified moths
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In the past, as an experiment to release genetically engineered organisms into the wild, a ' release experiment to eradicate Aedes aegypti with genetically engineered mosquitoes ' was carried out in the past, but this experiment failed and developed into an unexpected situation . Meanwhile, the world's first experiment to release genetically engineered moths has been carried out, and the results have attracted attention.
Frontiers | First Field Release of a Genetically Engineered, Self-Limiting Agricultural Pest Insect: Evaluating Its Potential for Future Crop Protection | Bioengineering and Biotechnology
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00482/full
New And Improved Crop Protection: Oxitec Self-Limiting, Genetically Engineered Diamondback Moth For Brassica | Science 2.0
https://www.science20.com/news_staff/new_and_improved_crop_protection_oxitec_selflimiting_genetically_engineered_diamondback_moth_for_brassica-244796
World First: Genetically Engineered Moth Is Released Into an Open Field | Technology Networks
https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/world-first-genetically-engineered-moth-is-released-into-an-open-field-329960
Diamondback moth is a pest that damages cruciferous crops such as cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and broccoli. It has been estimated that the total damage in the world could reach $ 5 billion (approximately 544,532.5 million yen). Moreover, Japanese moth is known to be resistant to many pesticides, and organophosphorus agents , synthetic pyrethroids, and IGR agents and BT agents that have been used against insect pests of the order Lepidoptera Individuals with resistance to have been found. In particular, BT is the first pest to be resistant.
by gbohne
So a group of researchers from Neil Morrison of Oxitec , a UK-based biotechnology company, developed genetically engineered 'self-limited strains' of Conaga. The female of the diamondback moth will die if the food does not contain the antibiotic tetracycline or a similar substance, but the male will survive. Moreover, since this property is inherited by offspring, by releasing males of the 'self-restricted strain' Konaga and mating with female Konaga, only male larvae will be present in the next generation, and eventually Konaga will They will die.
To confirm that the `` self-limiting strain '' developed by Morrison et al. Works effectively, entomologist Anthony Shelton of Cornell University and colleagues have actually found a male of a self-restricting strain of Konaga and a common Konaga. Males are released into the cabbage field at the test site. After that, a trap is set up on the cabbage field to capture moths, and a tag re-capture method that counts the number of males of self-restricted strains and males of normal conaga males marked with pre-colored powder Investigated whether the genetically engineered Japanese moth can survive in actual fields. As a result, it was confirmed that the male of the Japanese moth of 'self-restricted strain' is not different from the male of the normal Japanese moth in survival and activity.
Furthermore, based on the data on males of “self-restricted strains”, we simulated the change in the number of individuals when males of “self-restricted strains” were released into a field with female conaga. The result was a sharp decrease. The following is a graph of the simulation results, the vertical axis represents the number of female moths, and the horizontal axis represents the number of days since the release of the “self-restricted strain” male. Compare the blue dashed line that represents the case where the “self-restricted strain” male was not released, and the orange dashed line that represents the case where the “self-restricted strain” male and ordinary male were released 2: 1. It can be seen that the number of individuals is clearly smaller when the male of the 'restricted strain' is released. The gray line with the ratio of 'self-restricted' males to ordinary males set to 10: 1 was indistinguishable from the horizontal axis of the graph, resulting in almost annihilation.
'Our research is based on the concept of sterile insect release , admired by biologist Rachel Carson in his famous book, The Silent Spring , which alleged the dangers of pesticides. This will allow Carson to more efficiently achieve the goal of agrochemical-free agriculture. '
Oxitec is currently working on pest control using `` self-restricting strains '' mosquitoes in Brazil and Panama, etc.It has said that it has achieved results in suppressing dengue and Zika fever transmitting Aedes aegypti in multiple cities .
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