Critical vote on the GM mosquito

In april of 2014 the Brazilian regulator Comissão Técnica Nacional de Biossegurança (CTNBio) concludes risk assessment on commercial release of GM Mosquito OX513, technology proposed by Moscamed Brazil in partnership with the English company Oxitec and the Universidade de São Paulo.

During the evaluation, a CTNBio member had presented a report with information questioning the impact of the GM mosquitoes on the incidence of dengue and warning that in some circumstances the releases could make the disease worse, even if the number of wild Aedes aegypti mosquitoes was reduced. The whole argumentative document is available here. The concerns raised did not convince the majority of the Commission, and GM mosquito commercial released was approved.

The promise is to commercialize genetically modified mosquitoes that would end dengue, but results from field trials conducted in Bahia, Brazil have not been published to date and did not evaluate the relation between Aedes aegypti mosquito populations and the occurrence of dengue. On the other hand, the town in Brazil where releases of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes took place is still suffering to increasing dengue incidence, leading to an emergency decree renewing the state of emergency “due to the abnormal situation characterized as a biological disaster of dengue epidemic”.

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Tags:mosquito transgênico, oxitec

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0 responses to “Critical vote on the GM mosquito”

Meagan Morrison disse:

24 de agosto de 2014 às 17:15

The Mosquito Control Board of the Florida Keys (U.S.) is trying to get the FDA to allow the experimentation of GM Mosquitoes in Key Haven, Florida, a neighborhood of Key West.
Despite public outcry against it, the board is still trying to get it approved (to date, 8/24/14).
I have followed articles about the releases in Mayasia, Caymans and Brazil, and I will continue to fight against it in the U.S. Some strong public advocates, scientists and doctors are speaking out and there is a growing awareness about the irresponsible premature release of such technology before appropriate safety protocols are observed with respect to communities of the general public.

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