Geneticists from the University of California San Diego developed gene drive technologies to combat insecticide resistance by replacing resistant genes in insects with genes that restore susceptibility to pesticides. The researchers say that this new genetic system has the potential to protect valuable crops and vastly reduce the use of chemical pesticides.
“We have developed an efficient biological approach to reverse insecticide resistance without creating any other perturbation to the environment,” said Prof. Ethan Bier, a professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, of the self-eliminating allelic drive, or “e-Drive.” “The e-Drive is programmed to act transiently and then disappear from the population,” he added.
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