Latest Oxford spin-out company to bug bugs

The latest Oxford University spin-out company, Oxitec (the name derived from Oxford Insect Technologies), is aiming to reduce the size of insect populations responsible for causing disease and destroying crops. With a new spin on an established technique, Oxitec can reduce insect numbers without the need for environmentally damaging pesticides.

Oxitec has been set up to further develop and commercialise a technique devised by molecular biologist Dr Luke Alphey and colleagues at Oxford University's Department of Zoology. Dr Alphey has found a way of breeding insects which are unable to reproduce in the wild because of small changes in their metabolism, which makes them dependent on a dietary supplement used in the rearing programme. The new breed can be released in large numbers to mate with wild insects, but since they are sterile no offspring are produced and the size of the insect population is decreased.

Dr Alphey said: 'The idea of sterilising insects for pest control is not new but the existing technology is unsatisfactory as it uses radiation which often damages the insects. They are then not able to mate with their wild counterparts successfully, which reduces their effectiveness. Our technique improves on the current approach as the released insects will be sterile but not damaged by the treatment and so can effectively compete with wild insects. In preventing them from producing offspring, insect populations are reduced without leaving toxic residues in the soil, in crops or in the food chain.'

Dr Angela Kukula, project manager at Isis Innovation Ltd, the University's wholly-owned technology transfer company which supported the formation of Oxitec, said: 'This is fascinating technology with enormous potential to improve both agricultural production and human health.'
Oxitec is already in discussions with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) who are keen to use the technology to control a pest of cotton plants.

For further information, please contact the University Press Office on 01865 280528.

Notes to Editors

• Oxitec Ltd is being provided with initial capital funding by the Oxford University Challenge Seed Fund and institutional investors.
  
  
• Isis Innovation Ltd, Oxford University's wholly-owned technology transfer company established in 1988, is a world leader in university technology transfer. Isis currently files a patent a week and spins out a company every two months based on academic research generated within and owned by the University. The combined value of Oxford's companies has reached £2 billion, using quoted market capitalisations and investor valuations for unquoted companies. The creation of these new spin-out companies benefits local economic development and has created many new jobs in the region.