Insect population control using a dominant, repressible, lethal genetic system. D.D Thomas , L. Alphey. Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.

   Insect vectors transmit some of the world's major diseases and insect pests cause enormous economic damage by destroying crops and livestock. Pesticides may affect beneficial as well as harmful insects and may become ineffective as the target insects acquire resistance. An alternative control method is the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in which large numbers of male insects are chemo- or radiation-sterilised and released to mate with wild females, effectively sterilising them. We propose a major modification to SIT using transgenic insects homozygous for a dominant, repressible, female-specific lethal gene system. We further demonstrate that the required genetic characteristics can be achieved.