Use of Male Sterilization Mutations for Insect Control Programmes

Abstract

RESISTANCE and deleterious environmental side-effects have limited the use of insecticides in insect control programmes, and researchers have become increasingly aware of the potential of population control by genetic manipulation. In pioneering experiments, screw-worm fly eradication was accomplished by the release of sterile males into natural populations, and wide use of this method was anticipated¹. Serious drawbacks, however, have often limited the successful utilization of this approach². Males are usually sterilized by the induction of dominant lethal mutations in a high proportion of sperm and spermatids by treatment with ionizing radiation or chemical mutagens. In some species the treated males do not compete successfully with males from the natural population for mating partners; in others the sterile males may not trigger a monogamous response in mated females, or male fertility is regained with time.