Oxitec Pioneered the GM Mosquito. Up Next? Moths, of Course
By Eric Niiler,
Wired
| 05. 10. 2017
A HALF-INCH-LONG MOTH that devours kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts may not inspire the same fear as a Zika-carrying mosquito, but the two insects have something in common. Both are being genetically tweaked by UK-based biotech firm Oxitec. Last year, the company made news when it proposed a Florida-based trial of a self-destructive mosquito—designed to stop the spread of Zika virus in native Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
Now, Oxitec wants to test a genetically modified version of the male diamondback moth to mate with—and eventually destroy—a pest that damages $5 billion worth of cruciferous crops every year worldwide. Like the mosquito, the moth passed laboratory and greenhouse trials and now must pass approval in a open field test. But while the mosquito had to wind its way through the FDA, Oxitec’s moth faces a different set of regulatory hurdles at the USDA. Officials at that agency are currently reviewing whether to allow Cornell University and Oxitec to release tens of thousands of GM moths into a 10-acre site in New York.
For decades, agricultural researchers have battled insect pests that are growing...
Related Articles
Sheep have been domesticated for roughly 12,000 years. Sheep have also been cloned since 1996; Dolly (pictured) was the first mammal to suffer that indignity. But this news was featured in the March 14 issue of Business Insider:
Montana rancher paid $4,200 to clone a dead sheep and launched a farm of super hybrids worth up to $550,000
Some people — not just Montanans but Texans too and probably others — pay to indulge in “captive hunting,” and large...
By Matt Novak, Gizmodo | 03.12.2024
An 80-year-old man in Montana pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony wildlife crimes involving his plan to let paying customers hunt sheep on private ranches. But these weren’t just any old sheep. They were “massive hybrid sheep” created by illegally...
By Emily Mullin, Wired | 01.18.2024
Surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania announced today that they successfully attached a genetically altered pig liver to a brain-dead person and found that the organ functioned normally for 72 hours. The experiment represents a step toward using pig organs...
By Greg Allen, NPR | 01.26.2024
MIAMI — In the age-old war of human versus mosquitoes, the bugs have been winning.
At least 700,000 people die every year from mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, West Nile and yellow fever.
Global trade and climate change...