The life of a sterile Medfly, one of the world's most destructive fruit pests

The female Mediterranean fruit fly, or Medfly, damages fruits and vegetables by depositing its eggs, resulting in large economic losses and trade bans. Nuclear technology, known as the sterile insect technique, can be used with other methods to deal with the pest.

The Mediterranean fruit fly was first spotted in March 2015 in the Dominican Republic. As soon as the country reported the presence of this major pest, the US banned a list of 18 fruits and vegetables, severely affecting the country's main source of income after tourism: agricultural exports.

Thanks to a quick response by the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture with the support of the IAEA, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the outbreak was contained in just ten months.