Researchers test self-destructing moth pest in cabbage patch

The laboratory-bred moths are the creation of biotech firm Oxitec, which deployed similarly modified mosquitoes in Brazil, Panama and the Caribbean in the fight against dengue fever and other diseases.

Andrianna Natsoulas, executive director of Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, said the group was also concerned about farm workers and consumers who might inadvertently ingest dead larvae that might remain on produce.

In an environmental assessment, USDA scientists concluded that the proposed field studies are unlikely to have an impact on the environment, wildlife, plants or human health.

Previous work to fight insect pests by stopping reproduction has used radiation to sterilize males, which are released in large numbers so wild females breed with them but produce no offspring.

"Self-limiting" genes are just the latest in a range of diamondback moth control methods that include insecticidal chemicals as well as predators, parasites and diseases that target the moth, whose caterpillar larvae devour plants in the crucifer family.