A method of producing a transgenic silkworm that spins bagworm silks and producing a large quantity of bagworm silks by transgenic technology is developed and provided. A gene encoding a modified bagworm Fib H and a transgenic silkworm in which the gene is introduced, wherein the gene is obtained by cloning a gene fragment encoding a bagworm Fib H-like polypeptide comprising a partial amino acid sequence of bagworm Fib H, and fusing the gene fragment to a gene fragment encoding silkworm-derived Fib H, are provided.

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies on an antibody which controls HIV in an administration group with a high probability over a long period of time with one or several times of single-agent administration. As a result, the present inventors have surprisingly found that, when an SW-1C10 antibody, which is obtained by producing an antibody gene reported as 1C10 in silkworms, is singly administered only a few times, the viral load in the blood is suppressed to the detection limit or lower at an early stage in all of individuals to which the antibody has been administered, and moreover, the viral RNA load in the blood is maintained at the detection limit or lower for a long time of 12 weeks. Also, the yield of the antibody in silkworms is approximately several hundreds μg per cocoon, or several μg per 1 mg of cocoon, and studies to increase the productivity more than this level have not been conducted heretofore. The present inventors have conducted studies to find an antibody having a higher yield in silk-spinning insects among a large number of anti-HIV antibodies. As a result, the present inventors have found that a 1C10 antibody and a 1D9 antibody, each of which is an anti-HIV antibody, are produced in silk threads of silk-spinning insects at a higher yield than the conventional yield.

The invention relates to a method for controlling hatching of Black soldier fly eggs, comprising the steps of incubating the eggs at a selected temperature for a selected time period; cooling the incubated eggs at a temperature lower than the selected temperature, starting at a selected time point; warming the eggs again at the selected temperature for a further selected period, up till the eggs hatch. Furthermore, the invention relates to a batch of Black soldier fly eggs kept at the temperature at which the eggs are cooled according to the invention, which cooled eggs are capable of hatching once warmed at the selected temperature according to the invention for a predetermined period of time. This way the invention provides for a method for delaying of hatching of an egg. Furthermore, the method of the invention and the batch of cooled eggs of the invention provide a method for synchronizing of hatching of a first egg and a second egg which are deposited at a first time point and at a second time point. In addition, the method of the invention and the batch of cooled eggs of the invention allow for compressing the time window for hatching of a batch of eggs which are deposited within a time frame of e.g. between 0 hours and 12 hours, to a time period of 14 hours or less.

A method for preventing or treating a neurodegenerative disease or condition by administering to a subject in need thereof an effective amount of an amylase or maltose is provided, wherein the amylase or maltose reduces aggregation-associated or misfolded protein- associated proteotoxicity, induces transcription of chaperones and proteases, promotes degradation of proteasome substrates, or preserves protein quality under stress conditions in a subject.

Provided herein are genetically engineered bacteria that are native to a host insect microbiome. Further provided are methods of inducing RNA interference in an insect, such as a bee, by administering the genetically engineered bacteria.

Apparatus for rearing of aquatic insects, comprises one or more water trays filled with water and larvae being reared, a water inlet leading to the water surface and a water outlet leading from the water surface, the water inlet closed with an inlet valve and the water outlet closed with an outlet valve. The tray has a mesh, and the insects reared in water in the tray are above the mesh. The tray has a water cleaning configuration in which the inlet and outlet valves are open to flush clean water through the tray while the mesh holds the insects so that they do not get flushed out as the water is changed.

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 of making sterile diploid organisms includes mating a first population and a second population of single knock-in diploid organisms, wherein the first population of single knock-in diploid organisms are heterozygous organisms expressing a first marker inserted into a gene required for fertility, wherein the second population of single knock-in diploid organisms are heterozygous organisms expressing a second marker inserted into the gene required for fertility, wherein introduction of the first/second marker disrupts expression of the required fertility gene creating a first/second mutant allele of the gene required for fertility, and wherein the first and second markers are distinct; sorting offspring produced from the mating based on their expression of the first and/or second markers; and isolating the sterile diploid organisms, wherein the sterile diploid organisms are heteroallelic diploid organisms expressing the first marker in the first mutant allele and the second marker in the mutant second allele.

Provided herein is a next-generation highly-efficient technology that can be used for biocontrol of D. suzukii and/or Aedes aegypti. The composition and technique termed precision guided SIT (pgSIT) functions by exploiting the precision and accuracy of CRISPR to simultaneously disrupt genes essential for either female viability or male fertility. It utilizes a simple breeding scheme requiring two homozygous strains—one expressing Cas9 and the other expressing double guide RNAs (dgRNAs). A single mating between these strains mechanistically results in synchronous RNA-guided dominant biallelic knockouts of both target genes throughout development, resulting in the complete penetrance of desired phenotypes in all progeny. This document provides methods and compositions relating to producing such insect eggs, insects, insect populations and uses thereof in reducing a wild-type insect population, along with methods and materials for producing genetically modified progeny of D. suzukii and/or Aedes aegypti.

The invention provides a splice control module for sex-specific splicing and expression of a gene of interest. In certain embodiments, a dsx-based splice control module is used to express a lethal gene in an insect that is spliced in a sex-specific manner to impart lethality to female insects but not male insects.