Organic Insecticides | Organic Pesticides | EcoSMART Bug Spray

Genetic Improvements in Fly Sterilization

June 15th, 2009 Posted in Flies & Gnats

The Fruit Fly (Ceratitis capitata) is one of the most economically damaging agricultural pests. They cost the world’s growers billions every year, as they infest more than 250 different fruits, nuts and vegetables. But in January 2009, a breakthrough in the genetic engineering of sterile fruit flies proved successful in universally eradicating these destructive pests.

This article will discuss:

• The beginning of fly sterilization
• Problems with the old method
• New improvements in genetic engineering of fly sterilization
• Were the improvements successful?

The Beginning of Fly Sterilization

Due to the enormous amount of damage caused by fruit flies, insecticides just weren’t getting the job done. Not only were they unsuccessful, but the insecticides caused serious environmental damage. In the 1950s, scientists came up with the idea to eliminate the pests by irradiating male fruit flies, a process that makes males incapable of proper egg development. After this discovery, scientists used this technique to eliminate other pests such as the screwworm fly, the tsetse fly and the pink bollworm. This was semi-effective, as it proved to be the only universal method to control fruit flies. However, there were problems with this kind of insect sterilization.

Problems with the Method

After discovering the fly irradiation method, problems were identified because the flies that had been irradiated were unhealthy. The gamma rays that were used to sterilize the flies caused major chromosomal damage. If a fly is unhealthy, it will have difficulty competing for a mate. Therefore, the flies that had been sterilized were not mating as expected. So, if fruit fly control programs wished to be successful in eradication, they needed to release 100 sterile flies for every unsterilized fly in existence, which was impossible. They recently came up with a way to fix this.

New Improvements in Genetic Engineering of Fly Sterilization

To produce flies that are both healthy and sterile, scientists linked a gene to create a cell’s “on” switch to kill only active embryos. Since these flies were bred in large numbers, scientists created another genetic “off” switch, which did not kill the embryos when the flies ingested an antibiotic called tetracycline. So when the flies were released into the wild, they no longer ingested the antibiotic. Because of this, the embryo killing “on” switch took action and allowed the males to be healthy enough to find a mate.

Were the Improvements Successful?

Yes. In lab tests, no eggs hatched after a sterilized male fruit fly mated with a normal female fruit fly. The competition for mates vastly decreased and was about ten times more successful in comparison to the irradiation method. There are more steps to take to refine fly sterilization, but this recent finding is taking a giant leap forward in permanently eradicating the fruit fly.

But if you don’t have time to wait, try EcoSMART’s bug killer. Their all-natural sprays are a quick and (unless you’re a fly) painless way to get rid of your fruit flies.

Katlyn Ziegler