Resistance and the jumping gene

Transposons are well-known architects of genetic change but their role in insecticide resistance has, until recently, only been speculated upon.((1))Transposon insertion, or transposon-mediated transposition, could alter either metabolic enzymes capable of degrading pesticides or could change the functionality of insecticide targets. The recent work of Aminetzach and coworkers((2)) suggests an exciting alternative, that transposon insertion can cause resistance by altering gene product function. This hypothesis is discussed in the light of other examples in which transposons have been implicated in insecticide resistance.