The present invention relates to methods and compositions for maggot debridement therapy. More specifically, the invention relates to recombinant nucleic acid constructs, transgenic maggots comprising the recombinant nucleic acids, methods for making the maggots, and methods for the use of the maggots, including debridement and promoting of wound healing.

Dehydrated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) candy foodstuff compositions are described, wherein the composition includes water, THC, and/or insects, a binding agent, an acid, or an oil. The composition includes flavorings, enhancers, lipids, emulsifiers, surfactants, esters, and various other ingredients, and may include various types of treated water.

Disclosed are methods, compositions, and systems for transforming silkworms to produce spider silk and analogs of spider silk. In certain embodiments, the method may include inserting a DNA sequence coding for at least a portion of a spider silk fibroin polypeptide, or an analog of a spider silk fibroin polypeptide, positioned between at least a portion of the 5′ and 3′ ends of a silkworm fibroin gene to generate a fusion gene construct having a sequence that encodes for a polypeptide comprising both spider silk fibroin and silkworm silk fibroin sequences. In certain embodiments, the fused gene is able to replace a native gene present in the silkworm such that the transformed silkworm expresses a polypeptide comprising a spider silk fibroin polypeptide, or an analog thereof, and expresses significantly less of the native silkworm silk.

Certain embodiments are directed to marker peptides or marker peptide antibodies can be used in producing diagnostic kits or used in diagnostic methods for Alzheimer's disease. The antibodies and/or marker peptides can be used in immunohistochemical and biochemical methods for qualitative and quantitative analysis of marker peptide levels and/or localization in brain samples and CSF samples.

The present invention relates to methods for the mass rearing of predatory mites, mite compositions and the use thereof for biological control. In particular, the present invention relates to the use of tarsonemid prey mites for the mass rearing of predatory mites and for controlling a pest in a crop.

A mobile culture assembly for feeding larvae of black soldier fly includes a mobile vehicle, a breeding device disposed in the mobile vehicle, and a turning device disposed on the breeding device. The breeding device includes spaced-apart breeding bodies, each of which defines a breeding space for accommodating feed materials and larvae. The turning device includes a base movably disposed on the breeding body, a feeding unit adapted to introduce the feed materials to the breeding space, a turning unit disposed under the base, a scrapping unit disposed at one end of the base, and a heat dissipating unit disposed on the base. The turning device serves to stir the feed materials and the larvae and also dissipate heat accumulated in the breeding space to thereby provide a preferable growing environment for the larvae, reduce feeding costs, and increase a reproductive rate and quality of the larvae effectively.

Packages of insects are attached to a carrier cylinder and the cylinder is rotated in a radiation field so that the packaged insects are sterilized. The radiation field is created by a plurality of x-ray tubes mounted above the carrier cylinder. The tubes (and their respective radiation sources) are positioned so that a consistent radiation dosage is delivered at the surface of the cylinder—thereby imparting both a precise and uniform dose of radiation to the insect packages affixed to the surface of the cylinder.

A method and system for the treatment of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus Kluk (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) to protect them from various life-threatening conditions, including the negative effects of various pesticides, provides Monarch butterflies with the ability to assimilate and degrade pesticides such as neonicotinoids and fipronil. Certain embodiments involve the inoculation of flowers by honey bees with desired bacteria that are able to degrade pesticides, such that when Monarch butterflies visit such flowers, they are exposed to such bacteria, transforming the microbiome of the Monarch butterflies so that pesticides can be degraded, thus enhancing the health of the Monarch butterflies.

An all male Culicide mosquito population is created by knocking down its Transformer-2 gene, causing the dysfunction of X chromosome-bearing sperm, hence producing severe biased male progenies. Unlike previous methods, we recently discovered that the Tra-2 knockdown also results in female-specific zygotes lethality (XX). This art is therefore also designed to kill early female zygotes (XX) that may have survived the previous knockdown, and the all male progenies are created only when an antibiotic substance has been added into food and drink to feed mosquitoes. The strict limit of the antibiotic exposure time allows mosquito-adapted Wolbachia bacteria to survive. Selected Wolbachia bacteria may induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) of up to 100%. All the progenies are therefore genetically males, which cause sterility when outcrossing with females infected by another Wolbachia strain (bidirectional CI) or are uninfected (unidirectional CI) in natural environment.

An active genetic approach to preferentially transmit allelic variants (allelic-drive) resulting from only a single or a few nucleotide alterations. Embodiments are provided for allelic-drive: one, copy-cutting, in which a non-preferred allele is selectively targeted for Cas9/guide RNA (gRNA) cleavage, and a more general approach, copy-grafting, that permits selective inheritance of a desired allele located at some distance from the gRNA cut site. A lethal mosaicism is provided that dominantly eliminates NHEJ-induced mutations and favors inheritance of functional cleavage-resistant alleles. These two efficient allelic-drive methods, enhanced by lethal mosaicism and a trans-generational drive process provide a shadow-drive, that are applicable to improvements in health and agriculture.