Use of a regulatory mechanism of sex determination in pest insect control.

The sexual development of an insect is defined through a hierarchical control of several sex determining genes. Of these genes, transformer (tra) and doublesex (dsx) are well characterized and functionally conserved, especially dsx. Both genes are regulated at the transcriptional level through sex-specific alternative splicing. Incorporation of a genetically engineered sexspecific splicing module derived from these genes in transgenic systems, such as RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal), would allow the production of male-only insects for control programmes without any physical intervention.