Gene Drive in the News
A curated collection of articles from the popular press
Jonathan Latham on Gene Drives and the Gates Foundation
12259James Corbett, The Corbett Report, 2020-06-09 18:04:09.
Jonathan Latham of Independent Science News joins us to discuss his 2017 article, “Gates Foundation Hired PR Firm to Manipulate UN Over Gene Drives.” We talk about gene drives, the dangers inherent in this technology, how the UN is involved, and why the Gates Foundation and DARPA are so interested in introducing genetic modifications into various species.
Company Receives Permit To Release Swarm Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes In Florida
12446I. Monzon, International Business Times, 2020-06-08 20:26:29.
A federal agency has provided a biotech company with the proper permit to release a swarm of genetically altered mosquitoes in Florida as a way to curb the spread of diseases in the area. If the company receives the additional approvals, it might begin releasing the mosquitoes this summer. The mosquitoes were bred inside the laboratories of Oxitec, a British biotech firm. The company mainly focuses on transgenically modifying mosquitoes to carry lethal genes designed to be passed onto their offspring.
What else could 2020 bring to Florida? Genetically altered, lab bred mosquitoes
12426J. Haughey, The Center Square, 2020-06-08 20:10:06.
A British biotech company has received an experimental use permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys this summer. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) board must approve the permit before Oxitec can proceed. The EPA approved Oxitec’s permit May 1 despite 31,174 people objecting to it and 56 people supporting it during a 30-day comment period that expired in mid-October
BUZZ OFF! Swarm of MILLIONS of gene-hacked mosquitoes will be unleashed across USA – to wipe out malaria with ‘death sex’
12423H. Pettit, The Sun, 2020-06-08 20:08:02.
MUTANT mosquitoes created in a lab to stop the spread of deadly diseases like malaria will be unleashed across the US this summer. The gene-hacked bugs, crafted by UK biotech company Oxitec, are designed to kill off or reduce local populations of mosquitoes by mating with them.
Fighting malaria with gene-drive technology
12417EarthWise, earthwise radio, 2020-06-08 20:03:15.
A team led by Imperial College London has created a genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio of a population of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using “gene drive” technology. The modification works by using a DNA-cutting enzyme to destroy the X chromosome during the production of sperm, which leads to predominantly male offspring, since females require two X chromosomes. The modification is coupled to a gene drive to allow it to spread through a population in a very effective way. A gene drive is a genetic engineering technology that propagates a particular modification by assuring that a specific form of a gene (or allele) will be transmitted with far more than the natural 50% probability.
Mosquitoes engineered to resist the malaria parasite
12440Anonymous, Lab+Life Scientist, 2020-06-07 20:22:39.
Anopheles mosquitoes that have been genetically engineered with multiple antimalaria molecules, acting at different stages of the malaria life cycle, are strongly resistant to the parasite that causes malaria and are unlikely to lose that resistance quickly.
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Cleared For Release In The US
12432M. Horowitz, Anonymous News, 2020-06-06 20:13:38.
A company called Oxitec has received an experimental use permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to release genetically modified mosquitos into the wild. This would be the first time that such an experiment was attempted within the borders of the US, and the permit would allow for the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitos each week over the next two years. The genetically modified insects will be released in Florida and Texas, but they will easily be able to travel throughout the country from there.
Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida and Texas beginning this summer – silver bullet or jumping the gun?
12409B. Allan, C. Stone, H. Tuten, J. Kuzma and N. Kofler, The Conversation, 2020-06-03 18:53:50.
On May 1, 2020, the company Oxitec received an experimental use permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release millions of GM mosquitoes (labeled by Oxitec as OX5034) every week over the next two years in Florida and Texas. Females of this mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, transmit dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses. When these lab-bred GM males are released and mate with wild females, their female offspring die. Continual, large-scale releases of these OX5034 GM males should eventually cause the temporary collapse of a wild population. However, as vector biologists, geneticists, policy experts and bioethicists, we are concerned that current government oversight and scientific evaluation of GM mosquitoes do not ensure their responsible deployment.
‘Just Add Water’ GM Mosquitoes Suppress Wild Population by 95%
12404H. Alber, 2020-05-27 18:49:43.
In order to reduce the spread of dengue, Oxitec releases genetically modified male Aedes mosquitoes into the environment. Once in the wild, these insects breed with local female mosquitoes and pass on a gene that causes female offspring to die at an early age. This method was reported to suppress the Aedes aegypti population by up to 96% in Brazil last year.
America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms
16665S. Zhang, The Atlantic, 2020-05-26 14:33:06.
The United States Department of Agriculture undertook what would ultimately become an immense, multidecade effort to wipe out the screwworms, first in the U.S. and then in Mexico and Central America—all the way down to the narrow strip of land that is the Isthmus of Panama. The eradication was a resounding success. But the story does not end there. Containing a disease is one thing. Keeping it contained is another thing entirely, as the coronavirus pandemic is now so dramatically demonstrating. To get the screwworms out, the USDA to this day maintains an international screwworm barrier along the Panama-Colombia border. The barrier is an invisible one, and it is kept in place by constant human effort. Every week, planes drop 14.7 million sterilized screwworms over the rainforest that divides the two countries. A screwworm-rearing plant operates 24/7 in Panama. Inspectors cover thousands of square miles by motorcycle, boat, and horseback, searching for stray screwworm infections north of the border. The slightest oversight could undo all the work that came before.
New study highlights success of gene drive technology with preventing mosquito-spread diseases
12401A. Meckler-Pacheco, The California Aggie, 2020-05-25 18:47:25.
For the past 30 years, researchers have studied the usage of gene drive technology to stop the spread of malaria. The idea is to create genetically engineered mosquitoes (GEM) that are either resistant to carrying the malaria parasite or that fail to reproduce, which would result in the reduction of the mosquito population. The gene drive technology relies on the use of the Cas-9 enzyme, which ensures the passing of the new modified genes onto offspring in the introduced population.
Hope rises as scientists eliminate malaria mosquitoes
11953A. Adeyemi, New Telegraph, 2020-05-14 17:57:14.
A team of researchers led by Imperial College London have spread a genetic modification that distorted the sex ratio through a population of caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using ‘gene drive’ technology. According to the results of their study published yesterday in ‘Nature Biotechnology,’ the modification they initiated in the laboratory created more male offspring that was able to eliminate populations of malaria mosquitoes in the lab experiments.
Malaria mosquitoes eliminated in lab by creating all-male offsprings
11945Aishwarya, Inshorts, 2020-05-13 17:53:53.
Imperial College London-led team used 'gene drive' technology to spread genetic modification that distorted sex ratio through caged breed of malaria mosquitoes. This caused mosquitoes to produce more male offspring, eventually leading to no female birth. The study suggested such mosquitoes carrying a sex-distorter gene drive could help spread male bias within local malaria-carrying populations.
Researchers use “gene drive” technology to eliminate malaria mosquitoes in lab experiments
11619J. Ives, News Medical Life Sciences, 2020-05-13 16:15:18.
A team led by Imperial College London spread a genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio through a population of caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using 'gene drive' technology.
Genetically-manipulated male mosquitoes could eliminate females
11617B. Coxworth, New Atlas, 2020-05-13 16:13:30.
Several years ago, we heard how scientists were looking at eradicating malaria-carrying mosquitoes by making the females infertile. Now they're going a step further, by eliminating the females altogether.
Researchers discover way to eliminate malaria carrying mosquitoes
11615S. Digon, International Business Times, 2020-05-13 16:12:04.
Researchers from the Imperial College London have come up with a genetic modification that will pave the way for the elimination of malaria mosquitoes. Scientists say that the alteration distorts the sex ratio of caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using what they call a ‘gene drive’ technology.
Public opinion on gene editing
11613P. Thomas, The Ecologist, 2020-05-11 16:10:29.
What does the public think of genetic engineering in food and farming? Is there more acceptance, or less, these days? Have the issues changed over time, or is it just more of the same? How well informed do you believe you are? Beyond GM like you to participate in our survey to help us find out. While many people could be forgiven for thinking the issue of GMOs has gone away, the last few years have been a period of rapid developments in terms of new genetic engineering techniques.
The malaria mosquito is eliminated in the lab by creating a population of all males
11611NewsDesk, Instant, 2020-05-11 16:08:42.
A team led by Imperial College London disseminates genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio through the Anopheles gambiae mosquito population that is locked up using ‘gene drive’ technology.
Malaria mosquitoes eliminated in lab by creating all male populations
11609H. Dunning, Imperial College London, 2020-05-11 16:07:00.
A team led by Imperial College London spread a genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio through a population of caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using ‘gene drive’ technology.
EPA Approves Genetically Modified Mosquito Trial For Florida Keys
11450Nancy Klingener, WLRN, 2020-05-07 18:22:34.
A plan to test genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys has received approval from the federal government.
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