GM Insect Biodiversity and Ecological Interactions

For many years we knew little about microbes because there was no reliable method to identify them. Advances in molecular genetics changed all that. With modern DNA methods, any life form can be identified. Recent studies have also begun to reveal how critically important microbes are to insect biology. The laboratory of Takema Fukatsu in Japan reported the astonishing result, that if you swap the gut microbes of two closely related stink bugs, the insects switch host plants. Genetic transformation has revolutionized plant breeding. It is now possible to apply that approach to insects in improving the ecologically friendly sterile insect technique. It is fair to say the world is having difficulty accepting these new genetic methods. Interdisciplinary studies are a powerful source of innovation.