ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the available techniques and some possible strategies for manipulating the genes of pest insects to cause the cessation of the noxious characteristics of the pest, either by total eradication or the lowering of population density below economical thresholds. It proposes some specific projects in which molecular genetics could have practical applications in entomology. One application that has received inadequate attention is the practical use of molecular genetics for the control of pest insects. However, the molecular genetic technology for genetic sexing would probably be applicable to other types of genetic control. To accomplish the same thing using molecular genetics will require the development of suitable transformation systems and the isolation of the appropriate pesticide resistance genes. “Transformation” is the introduction of DNA into a cell or organism and the subsequent expression of the genes located on that DNA. Molecular genetics can be employed to introduce pesticide resistance into beneficial predators, parasitoids, and pollinators.
