Science and Technology: The Science

The Minos Transposon

Minos is a transposable element isolated from the fruit fly Drosophila hydei. Using the Minos transposon, Professor Savakis and his co-workers were the first to demonstrate the germ line transformation of the economically important insect pest the Medfly (Ceratitis capitata). This was also the first demonstration of the transfer of genetic information using a transposon derived from Drosophila to another insect genus (see Loukeris et al.,(1995) Science, 270, 2002-2005).

GFP Transformed		Control
Transformation of Medfly with GFP

The Minos transposon has now been used to effect germ-line transformation and gene transposition in a number of economically important insect pests, including diptera, lepidoptera and coleoptera.