Recent developments in genome editing tools have made it possible to edit genomes even in insects.However, in the conventional method, since the genome editing tool is injected into the egg (early embryo) immediately after fertilization, it is necessary to acquire expensive experimental equipment and special experimental techniques.Furthermore, since there are many species that cannot be injected into eggs in principle and species that are extremely difficult in terms of technology, it has been difficult to freely edit the genome of a wide variety of insects.

　This time, the research group has developed an extremely simple insect genome editing method (DIPA-CRISPR method).This method injects into adults rather than eggs.This made it possible to edit the genome of cockroaches, whose eggs were covered with a hard shell (egg sheath) and which was extremely difficult to inject into eggs.Genome editing efficiency was 20% in adult female German cockroaches.In addition, genome editing was possible even for the beetle Red Flour Beetle, which is separated from the cockroach, and the genome editing efficiency exceeded 50%.

　The DIPA-CRISPR method does not require expensive equipment or technical training because the injection is performed on adults.The genome editing tool to be injected can be a general commercial product as it is, and no special preparation is required.It is easy to implement in most laboratories around the world and, in principle, is applicable to most of the more than 100 million insect species.

　By this method, anyone can quickly and easily edit the genome of an insect with free ideas.In the future, we would like to further improve the efficiency and versatility of this method, which will lead to the development of new insect resources and the development of new management methods for agricultural and sanitary pests.

Paper information:[Cell Reports Methods] DIPA-CRISPR is a simple and accessible method for insect gene editing