Now please tell me again its chiggers
Oh lookie who sponsors and fund ms
https://www.oxitec.com/en/our-technology. And look what other insects theyve expanded to
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Powered by Oxitec’s Friendly™ technology platform, Oxitec is the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock.
Our insects
Targeting new insects when birds and snimaks used take care if pests
Aedes-aegypti
Anopheles-albimanus
Anopheles-stephensi
Fall-Armyworm
Soybean-Looper
Medfly
Spotted-Wing -Drosophila
Diamondback-Moth
Our insects contain a self-limiting gene,
We call this method “self-limiting” (like forced population control) because the released insects and the self-limiting gene that they pass on are designed to die and disappear from the environment.
We release males, because it is the female insects that are directly responsible for spreading disease or producing larvae that damage crops. Our males have one job: to find wild females where they live and mate with them.This method can be applied to all kinds ofinsect pests, from the mosquitoes that transmit such diseases as dengue and Zika, to moth caterpillars that destroy maize fields. We’ve created our insects using precise genetic engineering tools. They are just like wild insects, except we’ve inserted two additional genes.
The self-limiting gene prevents offspring of our released male insect from surviving to adulthood, and a fluorescent marker gene produces a protein throughout the body of the insects, which glows when exposed to a specific colour of light. This helps us to track our insects in the wild.
Benefits of our technology
PreciseOur insects only target their own species(like humans will do). They will not harm other, beneficial insects – unlike some other methods of control.
Scalable: Our innovative production technologies are being developed with the potential for efficiently rearing our insects at a large scale.
FlexibleOur self-limiting insects can be used as part of integrated pest management programs and can be used as a stand-alone solution.
Our Science
The Self-Limiting Gene
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How the self-limiting gene works
The self-limiting gene is at the heart of our method of insect controlvery much like when we maniplulste human genomes.
When our male insects are released and reproduce with wild females, all of their offspring inherit a copy of this gene. The self-limiting gene disrupts the proper functioning of the insects’ cells by over-producing a protein in them, interfering with the cells’ ability to produce other essential proteins needed for development. So by disrupting the insect’s normal development, the gene prevents it from surviving to adulthood.
==The Fluorescent Marker
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We have also introduced a marker gene into our insects, which produces a fluorescent protein called DsRed2.
“we achieve optimal pest suppression” (arent humans considerec pests?).
Partners and Funders
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Scientific Literature
Oxitec’s technology has been studied by scientists worldwide for more than a decade in a range of countries and projects. Please find a select list of the 100+ peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles and papers published about our technology. Publications are organised by year for easy reference.
We have also designed our insects so that we can turn off the self-limiting gene with an antidote called tetracycline. This allows us to breed our insects at a large scale without the need for any additional genetic engineering. Our 2nd Generation Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, for example, were engineered in 2013, and we have been breeding the strain from those original mosquitoes ever since!
==The Fluorescent Marker
fluorescent marker.png. Luciferase? Hmm what jab contains that==
We have also introduced a marker gene into our insects, which produces a fluorescent protein called DsRed2. Like the self-limiting gene, it is inherited by all offspring. This protein is found throughout the body of the larvae, pupae and adults, and glows red under a special light. As a result, with the right equipment you can easily tell our insects apart from wild ones. DsRed2 is non-toxic and non-allergenic.
OXITEC LTD
71 Innovation Dr,
Milton Park, Abingdon
OX14 4RQ, UK
email: info@oxitec.com
phone: +44 (0)1235 832393
https://www.oxitec.com/en/our-technology