Scientists from the Oxford University spin-off company Oxitec say they have developed a way of genetically modifying and controlling an invasive species of moth that causes serious pest damage to cabbages, kale, canola and similar crops world-wide. The scientists developed moths with a “self-limiting gene” which dramatically reduced populations in greenhouse trials.
According to the researchers, whose work was published in the journal BioMed Central Biology, the struggle with diamondback moths in cruciferous vegetable production costs farmers around the world up to $5 billion USD a year. Tony Shelton, an entomology professor at Cornell University, said neither conventional nor organic pesticides can control the moths. He said the moths are developing resistance to insecticides.
The researchers genetically engineered male moths that can mate just as well as the non-GM insects, but only produce male offspring. In greenhouse trials, releasing the GM moths into the population resulted in a crash in moth numbers within eight weeks.
The scientists said that unlike insecticides, which can affect a range of insects including bees, the genetic modification approach is purely species-specific, only affecting the targeted pest. The self-limiting gene is also non-toxic, so animals eating the moths get no harmful effects.
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“Diamondback moth is an invasive species in most of its range, so where we intend to control it we’re actually probably changing the local ecology back to its natural state” said Neil Morrison, an Oxitec research scientist who led the study.
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