Working on giant freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), they used a technique known as RNA interference (RNAi) to generate populations of neo-females using genetic molecules, similar to naturally occurring ones, which temporarily bind to the target sequence, causing it to be recognised by enzymes which suppress the gene's function. This caused the males to undergo complete sexual reversal until they became neo-females only capable of producing male offspring.
Professor Sagi said: “Besides boosting yields in commercial farms, this technology could also be used to control invasive crustaceans by altering population ratios.”
He also said that these non-reproducing prawns could be used "as sustainable bio-control agents" against freshwater snails that carry diseases or damage rice paddy fields. As these prawns cannot form reproductive populations, there would be no risk of them becoming invasive species themselves.