After GM Mosquitoes, Oxitec Takes Aim At Diamondback Moths
The diamondback moth is one of the world’s most significant agricultural pests, costing farmers billions of dollars every year. It feeds on brassica crops including cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, and it is well-known for its ability to develop resistance to synthetic and organic insecticides.
This half-inch long critter 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.
The biotech firm which 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, had earlier this year undertaken efforts to 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.
Oxitec scientists made two tweaks to their moth. The first is the killer. “Our diamondback moth carries a self-limiting gene, that prevents female offspring from surviving to adulthood,” said Oxitec research lead Neil Morrison. “This allows us to release adult males only, which are harmless to the crop. When they mate with a pest
female in the field, none of her female progeny would survive.” The next generation of larvae won’t have any female moths to mate with—and the population dies off. They also added a gene for a protein that glows red under UV light. Why? That’s so researchers can distinguish the trial moths from wild diamondback moths and see if the GM moths (imported from the UK) are spreading beyond the test site.The British biotech has now announced that the field trials of its genetically engineered diamondback moth have commenced following the Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI) recently issued by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“Following the USDA’s extensive review, we are pleased to be advancing a novel breakthrough technology that will provide a powerful and sustainable solution to control the increasingly insecticide resistant diamondback moth and the damage it causes to a variety of important crops,” said Sekhar Boddupalli, Senior Vice President and Head of Intrexon’s Food sector.
Tony Shelton, Ph.D., Professor of Entomology at Cornell University and a world-renowned expert on sustainable agriculture and DBM, will lead the USDA-approved field evaluation. The field trial will be conducted at Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.
Dr. Shelton noted, “Innovation in crop protection is necessary for more sustainable pest control methods and to reduce potential risks to human health and the environment. Self-limiting diamondback moths offer a new mode of action in the fight against this economically damaging pest. Importantly, this technology only targets this damaging pest species, and does not affect beneficial insects such as pollinators and biological control agents. Our previous greenhouse and field cage studies of this technology worked extremely well, and the USDA-approved evaluation will help us determine how well it works in the field.”
“The purpose of the Oxitec diamondback moth is to provide farmers with an environmentally friendly tool in the fight against this invasive pest, especially in light of a significant decline in performance of alternative methods. Moving to field trials is a critical step to get innovative solutions that are safe and effective to farmers in need,” stated Neil Morrison, Ph.D., Oxitec senior scientist and project lead.
Oxitec’s platform has been successful in rapidly suppressing and eliminating the diamondback moth population and is believed to hold substantial promise as an effective, versatile control option against this agricultural pest.
