Mutant codling moths are not headed to an orchard near you. But locked away in a Wapato, Washington, lab, mutant moths are giving scientists ideas about how to engineer a new era of target-specific pest controls.

Steve Garczynski, a geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, has been tracking the genes that make a codling moth tick for years, but new gene-editing tools now allow him to put his theories to the test. By knocking out key genes, he’s figuring out what critical reproductive pathways could potentially be disrupted by chemicals acting like a species-specific birth control.

“I’m trying to find out how (the codling moth) works so I can figure out how to disrupt it,” Garczynski said.

He’s using a DNA editing tool known as CRISPR to create precise mutations in the moth genome. It’s the same tool that was used to create malaria-resistant mosquitos last year.

Around the country, researchers are using the same gene-editing tools to directly disable a variety of pests, as well as to engineer better crops and figure out how to correct human genetic disorders.

Garczynski’s first experiment focused on the gene he thinks controls the receptor for the moth’s mating pheromone, known as codlemone.

His theory was that knocking out the codlemone receptor would prevent males from finding females. But while his results on that front were lackluster — probably because several genes are involved — he stumbled onto a major finding.

“It turned out to be quite fortuitous, but we just took those edited moths and mated them and found that the females laid fewer eggs and none were viable,” Garczynski said. “It appears that when females produce codlemone to call for males, it also preps the eggs for fertilization, so when we knocked that out, the eggs don’t get prepared.”