Genetic Engineering

Flesh-Eating Screwworms Are Back. Gene Drives Could Stop Them for Good.

Using genetic engineering to drive at least some pest species to extinction is ethical.

Ronald Bailey | 7.23.2026 2:15 PM

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(CDC Public Health Image Library/John Kucharski/Wikimedia Commons)

Screwworms are back and spreading in Texas. The pests were successfully eradicated from the United States in 1966. How? Using the sterile insect technique whereby 20 billion irradiated screwworm flies were raised in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) labs and released over Texas, Arizona, and California via aircraft to breed with wild female flies. These sterile matings eventually eliminated the native populations. The flying vermin, however, remain endemic south of our border.

Screwworm flies lay their eggs in the wounds and body openings of warm-blooded hosts including cows, goats, sheep, deer, and even........

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