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Print articleBiotechnology
Revolutionising SIT Programmes
The control of pest insects using chemical insecticides is under pressure to change to environmentally friendly methods. Oxitec might just have the answer.
Oxitec is a dynamic and rapidly growing company, developing novel environmentally friendly methods for the control of pest insects of medical, veterinary and agricultural importance.
Oxitec?s breakthrough proprietary technology, coupled with its global vision for commercialisation, will allow the company to position itself as a leading provider of cost-effective insect pest control through revolutionising an existing biological control method known as the sterile insect technique (SIT).
The $8 billion market for the control of pest insects in agriculture and public health is under increasing pressure to reduce the use of chemical insecticides, and instead to seek more environmentally friendly alternatives. One such approach is SIT, in which factoryreared insects are sterilised with radiation and released to mate with the pest target: since there are then no offspring, the pest population crashes. For some major pests SIT has completely displaced other control methods; for example, it is now the only method used to control Medfly and screwworm in the US and Central America. However, SIT is currently constrained by the use of radiation as a means of sterilising insects. Radiation causes unwanted damage to the released insects, rendering them less effective, and for some species, such as mosquitoes, radiation is too damaging for use.
| Oxitecâs vision is to become the leading commercial provider of cost-effective SIT programmes worldwide |
Oxitec?s patented technology (RIDLTM ) promises to revolutionise SIT programmes by making it unnecessary to irradiate the insects, and enabling the production of male-only populations. These advances will make SIT much more cost effective, driving further growth and profitability in existing programmes, and opening up major new markets. Oxitec?s vision is to become the leading commercial provider of cost-effective SIT programmes world wide.
The early target markets for Oxitec are:
- Medfly and other fruit fl ies. Medfly, the primary pest of citrus worldwide, is currently the largest SIT programme with global production capacity standing at four billion sterile males per week. Oxitec has RIDL Medflies ready for field trials.
- Pink bollworm, the major pest of cotton worldwide. Oxitec?s work on this pest is partially funded by US Department of Agriculture, and first field trials of RIDL pink bollworm are planned for the near future.
- High-value row crops such as fruit and vegetables. For example, Oxitec believes that the codling moth (a major pest of apples and pears) SIT market is ripe for rapid growth.
- Global health. Oxitec?s lead product in this field is the dengue and yellow-fever mosquito, where it is collaborating with a multinational team, led by the University of California, on genetic strategies for control, funded in part from the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative
- Biocontainment. RIDLTM technology provides a powerful biocontainment tool, preventing the establishment of viable breeding populations in the wild. This approach could be used for containment of any organism, such as farmed fish, or ?beneficial? organisms introduced to a new ecological setting.
To realise its vision, Oxitec is pursuing three parallel commercialisation strategies:
- Licensing its technology into existing programmes: the company is developing strains of insects for most existing SIT applications.
- Vertical integration through acquiring mass-rearing and field programme provision. This will be conducted in collaboration with government programmes, research organisations, large growers or growers? organisations to develop new uses.
- Establishing joint ventures to add critical mass to its operations outside Europe.
Enquiries are invited from potential collaborators or venture partners.
Oxitec Limited
71 Milton Park
Abingdon
Oxford OX14 4RX, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 832393
E-mail:
website: www.oxitec.com