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https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jgen/089/03/0301-0305

sex determination; pest insect control; transformer; doublesex; RIDL.

The sexual development of an insect is defined through a hierarchical control of several sex determining genes. Of these genes, transformer (tra) and doublesex (dsx) are well characterized and functionally conserved, especially dsx. Both genes are regulated at the transcriptional level through sex-specific alternative splicing. Incorporation of a genetically engineered sex-specific splicing module derived from these genes in transgenic systems, such as RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal), would allow the production of male-only insects for control programmes without any physical intervention.

Tarig Dafa'alla¹ Gouliang Fu^{1 2} Luke Alphey^{1 2}

1. Oxitec Limited, 71 Milton Park, Oxford OX14 4RX, UK
2. Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK

Published

September 2010

Manuscript received

25 June 2010

Manuscript revised

30 June 2010

Accepted

2 July 2010

Early published

6 September 2010