How to eliminate invasive species?
6/30/19 I went to a “standup science” the other day. It is so exciting to see that many people come to ask interesting questions and want to participate discussions outside the university environment. Yes, science should be for everybody!
According to wiki, ” An invasive species is a species that is not native to a specific location (an introduced species), and that has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health. ”
One approach under research is called the Trojan-Y Chromosome strategy (TYC). The idea is to introduce a genetically-modified group of organisms into an ecosystem. They are super males that carry YY chromosome (normally, females carry XX and males carry XY). Once they are released to the environment, mating with YY super males will only lead to XY males. As a result, XX female populations will dramatically reduce and cause the invasive species to extinct. In 1950s and 60s, YY supermale fishes were produced by (abnormal) XY females and XY males. The experiments showed that all the off-springs are males when females mate only with supermales.
Scary power, isn’t it?!
(Acknowledgment: Dr. Rana Parshad)