Researchers from Kyoto University and Spain’s Institute of Evolutionary Biology have developed “direct parental CRISPR” (DIPA-CRISPR), a new technique for gene-editing insects. Rather than targeting eggs, the system is injected into the bodies of adult female insects near where their embryos are developing. In their study, the system was tested to produce insects with white eyes by inhibiting the expression of certain genes. The technique could be used to control (or eliminate) pests and answer fundamental questions in biology. The researchers believe that DIPA-CRISPR will work on over a million insect species and may be possible to use on other arthropods such as ticks and mites. However, the researchers note that the way some species reproduce would prevent the technique from being effective in them, and scientists would need an understanding of ovary development in their target species to use DIPA-CRISPR on it. The scientists acknowledge that the efficacy of knock-in experiments could be improved in the future.
Researchers have developed a new CRISPR technique called “direct parental CRISPR” (DIPA-CRISPR) that allows for gene editing in insects. Instead of injecting CRISPR or other gene-editing technologies into insect eggs, the new technique involves injecting the CRISPR system into the bodies of adult female insects near where their embryos are developing. The researchers tested the system on cockroaches and red flour beetles, successfully producing insects with desired traits. The mutations were also passed down to the offspring of the gene-edited insects. The new technique is simpler and requires less specialized equipment compared to the traditional method of injecting eggs. The researchers believe that it could be used to control or eliminate pests and answer fundamental questions in biology for a wide variety of insect species. However, the technique may not be effective in species with different reproductive strategies, and adding genes (knock-in) was less successful than deactivating genes (knock-out).
The researchers believe that DIPA-CRISPR will work on over a million insect species and may be possible to use on other arthropods such as ticks and mites. However, the researchers note that the way some species reproduce would prevent the technique from being effective in them, and scientists would need an understanding of ovary development in their target species to use DIPA-CRISPR on it. The scientists acknowledge that the efficacy of knock-in experiments could be improved in the future.
The new CRISPR technique could be used to control (or eliminate) pests and answer fundamental questions in biology. Scientists from Kyoto University and Spain’s Institute of Evolutionary Biology have developed “direct parental CRISPR” (DIPA-CRISPR), a new technique for creating gene-edited insects. Instead of targeting eggs, their CRISPR system is injected into the bodies of adult female insects near where their embryos are developing. The researchers believe that this method should work for more than 90% of insect species. However, the researchers note that the way some species, such as fruit flies, reproduce would prevent the technique from being effective in them.