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Technology |
Sterile Insect Technique The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is an environment-friendly, species-specific method of insect control, which has been described as “birth control for insects”. The technique involves releasing millions of sterile insects over a wide area to mate with the native insects that are present. Native females that mate with the sterile males produce non viable eggs, leading to a decl ine in the target pest population. SIT is well established and was pioneered in the 1950s with a program against the New World screwworm (see below) by Dr. R.C. Bushland and Dr. E.F. Knipling, who jointly received the 1992 World Food Prize. Since then, area-wide SIT programs have been conducted successfully across the world to control a number of insect pests, including Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly), Pink Bollworm, Codling moth and Tsetse fly. The wider use of SIT is currently restricted by the massive scale of rearing required, the need to irradiate the insects to sterilize them and, in some species, the difficulty of separating males from females. Oxitec is developing new technology which will replace the need for irradiation and make it easier to sort males from females - making SIT more affordable, even safer, and applicable to a wider range of pests. Case Study: Eradication of the screwworm The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The larvae hatch and “screw” into the surrounding tissue as they feed, causing severe tissue damage and sometimes death. The first successful SIT program against this major livestock pest was conducted in 1954 on the island of Curacao. The USA officially eradicated the screwworm using SIT in 1982 and the eradication program moved steadily south through Central America until the whole region was declared screwworm free in 2001. A permanent sterile fly barrier will be maintained at the Darien gap in Panama to prevent re-infestation.
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