The beet armyworm is a destructive crop pest Nigel Cattlin / naturepl.com
Deleting a gene linked to the production of sex pheromones in the beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) causes females to lose their attractiveness to males, offering a new potential route to control the species, considered one of the world’s worst agricultural pests.
at Andong National University in South Korea and his colleagues used the CRISPR genome-editing technology to delete the gene SexiDES5 in caterpillars of the moth, which feed on a wide range of crops such as vegetables, cotton and flowers.
The deletion meant that mutant…
