Gene Drive in the News
A curated collection of articles from the popular press
Florida residents claim ‘pest control trial’ that will release up to a BILLION genetically engineered mosquitos in the Keys to reduce species carrying diseases is ‘TERRORISM’
16859S. Liberatore, Daily Mail, 2021-04-26 20:54:47.
The Florida Keys will soon be buzzing with close to a billion 'fraken-squitoes' – gene-hacked mosquitoes aimed at eradicating a disease carrying mosquito. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec, a British biotech company, are starting the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered (GE) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes this week, which will see up to a billion over a two-year period. The project aims to reduce the numbers of Aedes aegypti, one of several mosquito species that can carry diseases including dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. Floridians, however, are calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to end 'this live experiment' saying they are being subjected to terrorism by the FKMCD.
Coalition Against GMO Mosquito Condemns Release of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes
16853GMO Free USA, 3BL CSRwire, 2021-04-26 20:40:26.
Despite a decade of community opposition, the experimental release of genetically engineered mosquitoes begins today in the Florida Keys. British biotech corporation, Oxitec, in collaboration with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, plans to release up to a billion genetically engineered mosquitoes in two phases. GMO Free USA and the Coalition Against GMO Mosquitoes condemn the uncontrolled release and are airing radio spots to educate Florida Keys residents about the health and environmental risks. This unprecedented mass release of a genetically engineered insect is the first of its kind in the United States and many Florida Keys residents remain unaware. The Coalition Against GMO Mosquitoes recently launched an educational website, StopGMM.com, and sponsored a local billboard to increase public awareness and galvanize opposition. The new radio spot will run daily on multiple stations. Oxitec and the FKMCD have failed to provide sufficient answers to the most pressing questions posed by concerned residents. Some residents have reached out to government officials at the EPA, in Congress and the White House to request intervention to halt the experiment until thorough research is conducted.
Nation’s First Trial Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Starts In Florida Keys
16851N. Klingener, WLRN, 2021-04-26 20:35:50.
Boxes containing the eggs of genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, water and a little food are being placed in six locations in the Lower and Middle Keys this week — in a trial that will be the first of its kind in the United States. The genetic modification is intended so that female offspring won't survive. Female mosquitoes are the ones that bite and can transmit diseases like dengue and zika. The genetically modified males are supposed to breed with wild females — and then their female offspring won't survive, either. Andrea Leal is in charge of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District. The district has been working with the British firm Oxitec for more than a decade, since a 2009-10 outbreak of dengue fever in Key West.
Major fly pest genetically modified in lab to produce more males
16835H. Dunning, Imperial College London, 2021-04-23 14:29:07.
It has been predicted that the world's population will increase to over nine billion people by 2050, and that global food production will need to increase by around 70 percent to match this rate of change. Lead researcher Dr Angela Meccariello, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: “Currently, medfly infestations are estimated to contribute towards a loss of up $298 US million annually due to crop damage across a wide geographic area and in over 250 different species of fruits and vegetables. “Due to factors such as climate change, the spread of invasive species and pesticide resistance, there is potential for the negative impact of the medfly on global agriculture to increase if left unchecked. We therefore need new technologies to fight these pests, and our modification could be one such tool.” The team’s modification works by using a DNA-cutting enzyme to destroy the X chromosome during the production of sperm, leading to predominantly male offspring, as females require two Xs. In their experiments, they managed to produce populations of the flies that were 80% male.
Genetically-engineered mosquitoes set for release in Florida Keys: Science offers tool to fight Zika, dengue, malaria but critics claim it’s unnecessary and potentially dangerous
16808J. Musto, Genetic Literacy Project, 2021-04-22 16:02:53.
U.K.-based biotechnology company Oxitec has partnered with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District in an effort to control the invasive and disease-spreading female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the region. Oxitec’s [genetically modified] male mosquitoes — which don’t bite, unlike the recently-discovered yellow fever-carrying Aedes scapularis mosquitoes — will be introduced in small areas in a select number of neighborhoods between mile markers 10 and 93 in the Keys. In recent reporting from Undark, the non-profit digital science magazine notes that Oxitec had been proposing an experimental release in the Keys for years and that it had been rejected before in both Key Haven and Key West — though some residents in surrounding areas voted in support of the release.
CRISPR may help curb malaria by altering a mosquito’s gut genes, new study suggests
16828Cornell Alliance for Science, Genetic Literacy Project, 2021-04-21 16:46:24.
Altering a mosquito’s gut genes to make them spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species shows promise as an approach to curb malaria, suggests a preliminary study published in eLife. The study is the latest in a series of steps toward using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to make changes in mosquito genes that could reduce their ability to spread malaria. If further studies support this approach, it could provide a new way to reduce illnesses and deaths caused by malaria. Mosquito are becoming increasingly resistance to insecticides and malaria parasites are gaining resistance to antimalarial drugs, creating an urgent need for new ways to fight the disease. Gene drives are being tested as a new approach to controlling mosquitoes, locusts and other insects. They work by creating genetically modified mosquitoes that, when released into the environment, mate with wild insects. The offspring contain genes that either reduce mosquito populations or make the insects less likely to spread the malaria parasite. But scientists must prove that this approach is safe and effective before releasing gene drive mosquitoes into the wild.
Fighting mosquitoes with mosquitoes
16825W. Feng, The Daily Targum, 2021-04-21 16:38:39.
When you think about the animal that has killed the greatest number of humans in the world, you generally tend to think of large predators. Is it perhaps the great white shark or maybe the cute but deadly hippopotamus? While these animals are certainly deadly, the number of annual fatalities caused by them are eclipsed by the number of individuals killed by the tiny blood-sucking mosquito. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 725,000 people are killed every year by mosquito-borne diseases. The mosquito has been the center of numerous pathogenic outbreaks over the last couple decades, such as the West Nile virus, malaria and the Zika virus. While conventional control strategies have been employed, these have all failed to stop the spread of these viruses. To combat this issue, one solution that has been proposed is gene drives. While further testing and research is still required to ensure the safety and efficacy of gene drives, the benefits of this technology far outweigh any potential consequences, lending them to be extremely helpful in the battle against insect-borne diseases.
Eliminating malaria via a simple genetic modification
16822S. Gunn, Front Line Genomics, 2021-04-20 16:32:44.
Despite decades worth of research and efforts, data from 2015 onwards suggests that there has been no significant progress in reducing global malaria cases. Every year, around 400,00 people die from malaria, with over 90% of cases being within sub-Saharan Africa. The rise of mosquito resistance to pesticides as well as malaria parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs has emphasised the urgent need for the development of new tools to fight this disease. One approach that researchers are exploring is the use of gene drives. A gene drive is a genetic modification that can spread through a population at higher inheritance rates than normal. In this context, researchers can genetically modify mosquitos that, when released into the environment, would spread genes to either reduce mosquito populations or make them less likely to spread the malaria parasite. Due to concerns regarding the safety of gene drives, it is vital that researchers prove that this approach is safe and effective before releasing the modified mosquitos into the wild. There are currently no clear pathways for safely testing these tools within endemic countries.
UK biotech firm’s 750 mn GM mosquitoes will mate with females off Florida, sow a deadly gene
16819S. Ramesh, The Print, 2021-04-20 16:27:48.
Oxitec, a UK-based biotechnology company, plans to release genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys islands off the US this month as part of a trial to curb mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and the one caused by the Zika virus. This is the latest genetic engineering experiment targeting mosquitoes that is aimed at tackling diseases that continue to kill thousands every year — an approach that has critics as well as backers. Only females of mosquitoes bite, while males feed on all nectar. The mosquitoes Oxitec plans to release will all be male, carrying a protein that will kill all their female offspring. The exact locations where the mosquitoes will be released have not been made public. The objective over time is to reduce the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads both the above-mentioned diseases as well as chikungunya and yellow fever. Mosquito populations in Florida are believed to have grown resistant to a common group of insecticides, prompting worries.
This Malaria Preventing Mosquito Is Not A GMO But Is A Science Boost For Nature – Will Activists Want To Block It?
16816H. Campbell, science 2.0, 2021-04-20 16:13:03.
Mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti don't have any value ecologically. If Thanos snapped them out of existence tomorrow there is nothing they do that won't immediately be taken up by 3,000 other mosquito species, not to mention 25,000 bee species when it comes to pollination. The only thing they are great at is killing people; by being a leading source of vector-borne dengue disease. Not far behind is Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, which carry malaria. Malaria kills nearly as many people each year as COVID-19 did in 2020 but there is no Warp Speed program to keep poor people in developing nations from dying. Environmental activists (overwhelmingly white and wealthy) instead spend $2 billion a year scaring people of color in other countries about science. Pesticides wiped out malaria in the U.S.(1) and remain the best way to go. DDT still works well and is in common use in afflicted countries.(2) Though banned politically in the U.S. half a century ago, our EPA literally writes the manual for how to spray it in homes elsewhere, but the Rachel Carson dream was to replace pesticides with genetically modified crops - optimizing nature to keep other parts of nature from killing everything using fewer chemicals.
Florida to release genetically modified mosquitoes to fight disease
16812K. Jones, WND, 2021-04-17 16:07:26.
A biotechnology company will soon release genetically modified mosquitoes in certain areas of the Florida Keys in order to combat infectious diseases spread by the parasitic insects.The findings could lead to a new method for combating the spread of diseases such as the Zika virus and dengue fever, according to experts. Both diseases are commonly attributed to mosquito bites in humans.Fox News reported that a strain of mosquitoes developed by a United Kingdom-based company called Oxitec -- partnered with the Keys' Mosquito Control District -- will soon be released into a select number of neighborhoods in Florida. The aim of the experimental program is to control the population of the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which make life insufferable for many residents of the Keys.
Dengue fever and Zika The first genetically modified mosquitoes are released in Florida to fight disease
16805M. Woolridge, The Daily Guardian, 2021-04-17 15:46:01.
Biotechnology Corporation Oxitec Planning to release transgenic mosquitoes in Florida Keys. The company says its technology aims to combat dengue fever, a deadly disease transmitted by mosquitoes Aedes aegyptiIn addition to other diseases such as Zika.According to Who is the And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. However, some neighbors are against releasing this transgenic mosquito because they fear that they will become so Guinea pigs. Oxitec Attempts to release genetically modified mosquitoes from 2011But it was always getting delayed due to discussions of places and some scholars. Despite this, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District agreed to Exam, Which will take place at various locations at Keys.
Breeding Malaria Out: Scientists Engineer Mosquitos to Spread Antimalaria Genes
16800L. Papadopoulos, INTERSTING ENGINEERING, 2021-04-17 13:57:17.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), malaria is a "serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans." There are four types of malaria parasites: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae with P. falciparum being the one most likely to result in death. But what if these mosquitos could be genetically altered to spread antimalaria genes instead of the disease? That would be nothing short of a miracle. Researchers from Imperial College London have successfully altered a mosquito’s gut genes to make them spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species. This innovation may result in curbing malaria once and for all. This is especially important as the parasite that causes malaria has been becoming increasingly resistant to antimalarial drugs.
Oxitec Receives Landmark Biosafety Approval for New Fall Armyworm Control Solution
16810Oxitec, Oxitec, 2021-04-15 16:03:00.
Approval of Oxitec’s Friendly™ fall armyworm technology by the Brazilian government’s regulatory agency CTNBio confirms that it is safe for people, animals and the environment. Oxitec’s Friendly™ fall armyworm is a new, safe, and sustainable solution to one of the world’s most devastating crop pests. CTNBio’s decision is a significant step towards deployment on commercial corn fields in Brazil. This is the world’s first commercial biosafety approval of an agricultural Friendly™ insect solution, following the regulatory approval in Brazil for Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquito in 2020
Scientists are now playing god with mosquitoes
16794M. Wehner, BGR, 2021-04-15 13:13:24.
Preventing illnesses in humans is a high priority for scientists that devote their lives to finding cures and techniques that keep people healthy, but sometimes a plan comes along that is so wild it can cause even the most devoted science fans to furrow their brow. In Florida, dengue fever regularly sickens over 100 people per year, and many of those individuals that contracted the virus are believed to have received it locally via mosquitos. Now, in what can only be described as the real-life equivalent of a made-for-TV sci-fi movie, scientists in Florida are prepared to unleash a swarm of genetically modified mosquitoes that will hopefully cut down on the number of the biting insects and, as a result, lower the numbers of mosquito-borne illnesses. The company behind the “OX5034” modified mosquitos is called Oxitec, and while it’s gained approval from the Environmental Protection Agency, there are still plenty of critics that fear unforeseen consequences.
Curbing Malaria’s Spread by Genetic Engineering
16792Anonymous, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, 2021-04-15 13:03:49.
There is an urgent need to find new ways to combat the growing mosquito resistance to pesticides and malaria parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs. Gene drives are being tested as a new approach. In a new study, researchers from the Imperial College London reported that their approach brings gene drives one step closer as a potential strategy for eliminating malaria. Their study was published in the journal eLife, in a paper titled, “Converting endogenous genes of the malaria mosquito into simple non-autonomous gene drives for population replacement.”
New genetic modification could cut malaria spread
16789Staff Writers, MALAYSIA NOW, 2021-04-15 12:56:54.
Altering a mosquito’s gut genes to make them spread antimalarial genes to the next generation of their species shows promise as an approach to curb malaria, suggests a preliminary study published in eLife on Tuesday. The study is the latest in a series of steps being taken toward using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to make changes in mosquito genes that could reduce their ability to spread malaria. If further studies support this approach, it could provide a new way to reduce illnesses and deaths caused by malaria. Growing mosquito resistance to pesticides, as well as malaria parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs, has created an urgent need for new ways to fight the disease. Gene drives are being tested as a new approach. They work by creating genetically modified mosquitoes that, when released into the environment, would spread genes that either reduce mosquito populations or make the insects less likely to spread the malaria parasite.
Researchers Using Mutant Mosquitoes To End Malaria, Which Kills 4 Lakh Per Year
16797M. Mohanti, India Times, 2021-04-14 13:20:52.
Every year, more than 22 crore people get infected with malaria and more than 4 lakh die because of it. In fact, in 2019, nearly half of the world's population was at risk of malaria. According to WHO, infants or children aged under 5 years are the most vulnerable group, accounting for two-third of all malaria deaths worldwide. Malaria is caused by parasites that are transmitted to people via the bites of infected female Anopheles mozzies. In a non-immune individual, symptoms--fever, headache, and chills--usually appear 10–15 days after the infective mosquito bite. If it goes untreated for a day, these mild symptoms can progress to severe illness, often leading to death, if bitten by the P. falciparum parasite.
First GMO mosquitoes to be released in the Florida Keys
16688T. White, UNDARK, 2021-04-12 15:18:49.
Oxitec says its technology will combat dengue fever, a potentially life-threatening disease, and other mosquito-borne viruses — such as Zika — mainly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. While there have been more than 7,300 dengue cases reported in the United States between 2010 and 2020, a majority are contracted in Asia and the Caribbean, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Florida, however, there were 41 travel-related cases in 2020, compared with 71 cases that were transmitted locally. Native mosquitoes in Florida are increasingly resistant to the most common form of control — insecticide — and scientists say they need new and better techniques to control the insects and the diseases they carry. “There aren’t any other tools that we have. Mosquito nets don’t work. Vaccines are under development but need to be fully efficacious,” says Michael Bonsall, a mathematical biologist at the University of Oxford, who is not affiliated with Oxitec but has collaborated with the company in the past, and who worked with the World Health Organization to produce a GM mosquito-testing framework.
Transgenic mosquito resistant to multiple serotypes of the dengue virus
34972Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo in collaboration with the Molecular Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, University of Colombo, 2021-04-10 10:39:01.
The dengue virus causes epidemics in more than 100 tropical and sub-tropical countries, where over 2.5 billion people (over 40% of the world’s population) are currently at risk of dengue infections. In recent years, dengue has become the number one vector-borne disease in Sri Lanka. The worst ever dengue virus outbreaks experienced in 2009, 2010, and 2013 transformed dengue into a major health issue in Sri Lanka. There are no medicines or effective vaccines developed for dengue; therefore, mosquito vector control is the most promising option to control dengue virus transmission. The conventional vector control methods used currently have only limited success. In an attempt to find a solution to this problem, the research team lead by Professor Ranil Dassanayake, Department of Chemistry, University of Colombo in collaboration with Professor Nilmini Gunawardene, Molecular Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya undertook to develop a dengue virus resistant transgenic Aedes aegypti mosquito (the primary vector of dengue virus transmission) line using an RNA interference (RNAi) based technology, as a component of the Ph.D. research project of Mr. Kalindu Ramyasoma.
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