How to Make a Butterfly: Team Uses CRISPR to Knock Out Gene for Hindwing Identity

The forewings and hindwings of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are different from each other, with color patterns and morphologies that mediate a wide range of functions in flight, signaling, and protection. To explore the genetics that determine these differences, a team including MBL Director Nipam Patel and Ph.D. candidate Aaron Pomerantz used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing