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A genetically engineered moth may get its first taste of the outdoors this
summer. The Pectinophora gossypiella moths are the adult form of the
pink bollworm, a major cotton pest in the American Southwest. The modified
version carries a marker gene for a protein that fluoresces under ultraviolet
light. If the US Department of Agriculture agrees, the moths will be sterilised
and released for more study into double cages in a facility near Phoenix,
Arizona. John J. Peloquin of the University of California, Riverside, says the
aim is to eventually produce genetically modified moths to mate with their wild
relatives and produce eggs that don’t hatch.