Insect biotechnology is largely founded on our abilities to genetically engineer insects using germline transformation technologies and my laboratory has been directly involved in the research, development and testing of new insect transformation technologies based on transposable elements. In collaboration with Dr. Peter Atkinson (U.C. Riverside), we discovered and isolated the transposable element Hermes from the common housefly, Musca domestica. Hermes is a functional and active transposable element that has proven to be an effective gene vector in a wide range of insect species. We remain interested in investigating the basic biology of this element and its use as a genetic transformation vector and functional genomics tool. Research into the behavior of existing insect gene vectors following their introduction into foreign genomes is an ongoing interest in the lab. We are also interested in exploring other mobile genetic elements as insect gene vectors. Currently, we are interested in a Hermes-related transposable element (Herves) discovered in the human malaria mosquito An. gambiae. Not only is this element providing us with a mosquito-derived platform for the creation of new insect gene vectors and functional genomics tools but it is also serving as a proxy for introduced transgenes in this species. We are currently investigating the population genetics and natural history of Herves in An. gambiae as part of our effort to understand how introduced transgenes on transposable element-based gene vectors might behave following their release as part of a genetic control program to alter the disease transmission potential of mosquitoes in natural populations. Research is also being conducted that addresses issues related to the risks associated with transgenic insects. For example, we currently have a research program designed to measure the effects of genetic engineering on insect fitness. While most of our current research focuses on mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae and An. stephensi, we also use Drosophila melanogaster and a variety of other insect species in our studies.

See the O'Brochta Laboratory and the Transgenic Insect Facility web pages to learn more about specific research interests, affiliations with academic programs, members of the laboratory, and to access our most recent data.