Media
A curated collection of articles from the popular press
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‘A Jurassic Park Experiment’: Watchdog Groups Denounce Decision to Release Genetically Modified Mosquitoes in FloridaL. Newcomb, Common Dreams, 2020.
Food safety and environmental groups Wednesday condemned a decision by officials in Florida to approve the release of 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes, a pilot project aimed at reducing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. |
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‘Gene drive’ tech to control mice plaguesAAP, Countryman, 2021.
As western NSW deals with a devastating mouse plague the government is investing in breakthrough genetic biocontrol research that could transform pest management in Australia. Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said the NSW government would provide $1.8 million to the project to ... |
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‘Home to GMO Mosquitoes?!’ Florida Unleashes a Billion Lab Grown MosquitoesAnonymous, B and T MAGAZINE, 2021.
Up to a billion genetically engineered mosquitoes are going to be released in the Florida Keys—but locals are having none of it, with billboards erected saying ‘no!’ to the damned blood suckers. The genetically-modified mosquitoes, known as the OX5034, were made in a ... |
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‘Miraculous’ mosquito hack cuts dengue by 77%J. Gallagher, BBC, 2021.
Dengue fever cases have been cut by 77% in a "groundbreaking" trial that manipulates the mosquitoes that spread it, say scientists. They used mosquitoes infected with "miraculous" bacteria that reduce the insect's ability to spread dengue. The trial took place in Yogyakarta city, ... |
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‘We don’t want to be guinea pigs’: how one African community is fighting genetically modified mosquitoesA. Pujol-Mazzini, The Telegraph, 2019.
Researchers from the Target Malaria consortium, a not-for-profit research group funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and various research institutions, have developed a mosquito in their laboratory that can kill off its own species by spreading a faulty gene. If it ... |
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‘A plague to be reckoned with’: UMN research creates a buzz with invasive fruit fly researchB. Most, The Minnesota Daily, 2020.
n early November, assistant professor Mike Smanski published an article about a new breakthrough in this research, demonstrating for the first time this kind of genetic engineering was possible in the common fruit fly. This shows that researchers could engineer this work into ... |
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‘Clever Approach’: Scientists Create GM-Free Organisms Using Genetic EngineeringA. Paleja, The WIRE, 2021.
Farther to the north, researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a novel way to resolve this problem. They used genetic engineering to create organisms for release that are not genetically modified. Maciej Maselko was a postdoctoral associate at the university ... |
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‘Death gene’ in genetically modified male mosquitoesJ. Goddard, The Times, 2021.
Tens of thousands of bio-engineered mosquitoes have taken flight in the Florida Keys under a pilot project that aims to breed insects programmed with a “death switch”. Genetically modified males produced by Oxitec — a British-founded biotechnology company — have begun ... |
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‘Gene Drive’ to curb malaria raises ethical questions as wellGyanedra Nath Mitra, The Pioneer, 2020.
A new technology ‘Gene Drive’ for mosquito control is currently confined to the laboratory since it raises an ethical question, if such a technology could in future be misused to the detriment of humanity. |
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‘Gene Drives’ Are Too Risky for Field Trials, Scientists SayZimmer, C, New York Times, 2017.
In 2013, scientists discovered a new way to precisely edit genes — technology called Crispr that raised all sorts of enticing possibilities. Scientists wondered if it might be used to fix hereditary diseases, for example, or to develop new crops.; ; One of the more intriguing ... |
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‘Just Add Water’ GM Mosquitoes Suppress Wild Population by 95%H. Alber, , 2020.
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 ... |
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‘Nigeria has capacity for safe application of modern biotechnology’M. Adewale, The Guardian, 2021.
Director-general of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, has declared that Nigeria has the capacity to deploy safe biotechnology products for agricultural development and environmental safety. Ebegba, who gave the assurance at the opening of a ... |
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“Gene Drive” Technology To Control Mouse Invasions | Liverpool City ChampionT. Carrington, Liverpool IL, 2021.
As western New South Wales faces a devastating mouse plague, the government is investing in groundbreaking genetic biocontrol research that could transform pest management in Australia. Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said the NSW government will provide $ 1.8 million for the ... |
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$1M in funding for project to cull mouse plaguesK. Brown, University of Adelaide NEWSROOM, 2021.
South Australian researchers are set to use genetic tools to help find innovative solutions to the devastating mouse plagues that have caused massive economic damage to Australian farmers.The University of Adelaide has been awarded $1 million in funding from the South Australian ... |
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$3.9M project on self-deleting genes takes aim at mosquito-borne diseasesO. Kuchment, AGRILIFE Today, 2020.
To control mosquito populations and prevent them from transmitting diseases such as malaria, many researchers are pursuing strategies in mosquito genetic engineering. A new Texas A&M AgriLife Research project aims to enable temporary “test runs” of proposed genetic changes in ... |
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3 innovative technologies stopping malariaB. Muni, The Borgen Project, 2020.
Malaria has plummeted by 40% fifteen years after 2000. A report that NCBI published attributed this to mosquito preventative measures like bed netting and insecticides. These interventions and practices, like wearing light color clothing, help at-risk populations fight malaria. ... |
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750 million genetically modified mosquitoes soon released in the wild!explica, explica, 2020.
Rather frightening mosquitoes will be released on an archipelago in Florida. The goal? Reduce the population of their more dangerous congeners who can transmit certain diseases. |
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750 million genetically modified mosquitoes to be released across Florida KeysA. Zahid, Sky News, 2020.
Authorities have approved plans for genetically modified mosquitoes to be released across the Florida Keys from next year. British-based firm Oxitec has designed the project to test whether the altered mosquitoes are a viable alternative to pesticides to control and prevent the ... |
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750 Million GM Mosquitoes Will Be Released in the Florida KeysL. Winter, The Scientist, 2020.
With the aim of reducing rates of the mosquito-borne illnesses yellow fever and dengue, a pilot program will release 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021, thanks to approval by the barrier islands’ Mosquito Control District Board of ... |
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750 million GM mosquitos set for release in Florida Keys.Editorial Staff, E&T, 2020.
Local authorities have approved proposals to release hundreds of millions of genetically modified (GM) modified mosquitos in Florida, in an effort to control populations of diseases spread by the organism. |
