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A genetically modified insect is an insect that has been genetically modified for various reasons such as agricultural production,〔(New Report Finds Genetically Modified Insects May Offer Public Health And Agricultural Benefits, But Clear Regulatory Oversight Is Lacking )〕 oil production〔Chris Ayres, ("Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol" ), www.timesonline.co.uk, 14 June 2008 (page visited on 21 September 2013).〕 and pest control.〔 Scientists are currently working on using them for disease control(see "Methods") (Genetically modified insects prevent disease )〕 In biological research, transgenic fruit flies (''Drosophila melanogaster'') are model organisms used to study the effects of genetic changes on development.〔(First Transgenic Mice and Fruit Flies )〕 Fruit flies are often preferred over other animals due to their short life cycle, low maintenance requirements, and relatively simple genome compared to many vertebrates. == Methods == The first release of modified mosquitoes were performed in the 1970s. It was mosquitoes of the species that transmit the dengue virus, that were sterilised by irradiation (sterile insect technique).〔Carpenter, Jennifer (11 August 2011) (Spermless mosquitoes hold promise to stop malaria ) BBC News, Science & Environment, Retrieved 17 August 2014〕 The British company Oxitec use a technique called RIDL (Release of Insects with Dominant Lethality), that can produce fertile male adults that induce a high mortality of the descendants. The adults generated with this technique and released in the environment are not sterile but their descendants have a survival rate of 0% (this lethality can be switched off by introducing the antibotic, tetracycline, into their diet). This company is currently(written 3/23/15) working on releasing these insects into Florida Keys, reducing the amount of wild insects that carry disease. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Genetically modified insect」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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