For Innovative Pest Control, a New Gene-Transfer Technique
Insect physiologist Paul Shirk (left) and technician Richard
Furlong examine a genetically transformed Indian meal moth
caterpillar using fluorescence microscopy. (D596-1) Many crop
insecticides have lost effectiveness because the target pests
have developed resistance. Others have been discontinued because
of the potential or real risks they pose to environmental or
human health. The upshot is that growers have fewer chemical
options available to them for controlling pest insects. One
highly successful nonchemical alternative to insecticides is the
sterile insect technique (SIT), in which masses of male insects
are sterilized by irradiation and then released to mate with
wild females. No offspring result, and the population
diminishes. SIT could potentially be improved—and new types of
biological control developed—by use of genetically modified
insects. A genetic tool developed and patented in part by ARS
researchers, called the “piggyBac transposon,