These Flies Were Built to Destroy Their Own Species

A British biotechnology company called Oxitec has genetically engineered a new breed of olive tree fly that could stop their natural counterparts from ravaging olive trees in Spain.

The altered flies are implanted with a gene that causes female offspring to die in the larval stage. Males will grow old with the gene, and soon won't have anyone to mate with. In a controlled experiment conducted by the UK scientists, according to New Scientist, the population crashed in about 10 weeks.

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Olive tree fly larvae eat through 15% to 30% of the crop each year, making them much more than a nuisance to anyone whose income depends on the fruit. Read more...