Keywords: South/Central America
Field implementation of the sterile insect technique against Aedes aegypti in Recife, Brazil: operational challenges and impact of release frequency on vector dynamics
35418Macedo, A.T., Carvalho, D.O., Gomez, M. et al., Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 15. 2026-02-02 16:59:43.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environmentally friendly tool for suppressing Aedes aegypti populations. While promising in controlled settings, its application in large urban environments presents logistical and biological challenges. This trial focused on releasing sterile males, sent from a long-distance production facility to suppress the local mosquito population. Sterile males of Ae. aegypti were mass-reared, irradiated, and transported 712.2 km from a central facility to Recife, Brazil. Releases were performed once (SIT 1 ×) or twice per week (SIT 2 ×). Entomological indices—including eggs/trap per day (ETD), hatch rate, induced sterility, and adult female abundance—were monitored through ovitraps and BG-Sentinel traps. Data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and Bayesian time-series modeling (CausalImpact). Dose–response experiments established that pupae required 35 Gy and adults 65 Gy to achieve > 99% sterility, with no difference between gamma and X-ray sources. Adult sterilization was effective across 24–96 h post-emergence, facilitating operational flexibility. Handling and transport reduced flight ability by up to 35 percentage points, highlighting cumulative stress effects. In field trials, SIT 1 × yielded limited suppression, with ETD values remaining similar to or higher than those of the control. In contrast, SIT 2 × produced consistent suppression, reducing ETD by 39%, hatch rate by 33%, and female abundance by 51%. In this study, increasing the release frequency was essential to achieve significant model outcomes, representing varying degrees of mild suppression of Ae. aegypti in a complex urban setting. In Addition, male handling, chilling, and transport emphasize the need to reduce the exposure to these parameters by improving the protocols. These results highlight key areas for scaling SIT within integrated vector management strategies in tropical urban settings.
This scientist is breeding billions of mosquitoes to fight disease in Brazil
35301Mariana Lenharo, Nature, 2025-12-08 17:09:18.
nside a massive factory in the industrial district of Curitiba, Brazil, millions of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are breeding in a climate-controlled room filled with mesh cages. Every week, the facility produces more than 80 million mosquito eggs. At the heart of this effort is Luciano Moreira, a soft-spoken agricultural engineer and entomologist, who opened the factory in July as part of an effort to fight mosquito-borne illnesses in the country. At the Curitiba facility, mosquitoes are infected with a bacterium called Wolbachia, which curbs the transmission of harmful human pathogens. Their offspring are being released in Brazilian cities to help to control dengue, a deadly viral disease transmitted mainly by A. aegypti. Until recently, Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes were released only as part of small-scale research projects. The new factory marks a shift towards nationwide adoption of the method after Brazil’s federal government recognized it as an official public-health measure to combat dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases. People credit Moreira for making the case. “He has succeeded not only in carrying out the academic work, running experiments to demonstrate the model’s effectiveness, but also in convincing political decision-makers to implement the technology,” says Pedro Lagerblad de Oliveira, a molecular entomologist at Brazil’s Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. “This is a skill that not all scientists have.”
How billions of hacked mosquitoes and a vaccine could beat the deadly dengue virus
35143Lucila Pinto, Nature, 645:578-580. 2025-09-17 14:21:03.
Last month, a parade of vehicles wound its way through three cities in Brazil, releasing clouds of mosquitoes into the air. The insects all carry a secret weapon — a bacterium called Wolbachia that lowers the odds that the mosquitoes can transmit the dreaded dengue virus to humans. These infected mosquitoes are the latest weapon in Brazil’s fight against dengue, which infects millions of people in the country each year and can be fatal. A biofactory that opened in the town of Curitiba in July can produce 100 million mosquito eggs per week — making it the largest such facility in the world. The company that runs it, Wolbito do Brasil, aims to protect about 14 million Brazilians per year through its Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. That will come as welcome news for the Brazilian health officials battling the rapidly growing threat of dengue. In 2024, the country experienced its worst outbreak yet: with 6.6 million probable cases and more than 6,300 related deaths. This year’s outbreak, although less severe, is also one of the highest on record, with 1.6 million probable cases so far (see ‘Dangerous outbreaks’). And the problem is spreading. Argentina, Colombia and Peru also experienced record-breaking outbreaks in 2024 and have seen a sustained increase in cases in recent years. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, deaths from dengue last year totalled more than 8,400 and the global figure reached more than 12,000 — the highest ever recorded for this disease.
Nature goes inside the world’s largest ‘mosquito factory’ — here’s the buzz
35120Adam Levy & Mariana Lenharo, Nature, 2025-09-08 08:31:27.
Raising mosquitoes to tackle disease might sound like an odd concept, but that’s what a facility in Brazil is aiming to do. Millions of mosquitoes are produced there every week, but these insects carry harmless Wolbachia bacteria that curbs their ability to spread deadly human viruses. Nature reporter Mariana Lenharo visited the facility and told us all about her experience in this Podcast Extra.
This is the world’s largest ‘mosquito factory’: its goal is to stop dengue
35109Mariana Lenharo, Nature, 2025-09-03 09:20:02.
When biologist Antonio Brandão tells people that he works at a mosquito factory, they are often baffled. Why would you make more mosquitoes?, he recalls people asking. “We have enough of them.” But once he explains that the laboratory-raised insects can help to stop the spread of dengue — which strikes hundreds of thousands in Brazil each year with fever, headache and bone pain — they come around. Brandão is the production manager, not at just any mosquito factory, but at the world’s largest, located in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba. Launched in July, the facility is expected to produce 100 million eggs a week from the mosquito Aedes aegypti. However, unlike wild A. aegypti, the main transmitter of dengue virus, those churned out by the factory carry a harmless Wolbachia bacterium that curbs the insects’ ability to spread viruses including dengue and Zika. The idea is to release the modified mosquitoes, which researchers call wolbitos, into cities in Brazil, where they will mate with their wild counterparts and the females will pass the bacterium on to their offspring, gradually converting the local population. The wolbito strategy, which is being spearheaded by the non-profit World Mosquito Program (WMP), has already shown success in Colombia, Indonesia and at home: in the Brazilian city of Niterói in the southeast, dengue cases dropped by 69% in areas where Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes were released, compared with areas where they weren’t1. Brazil’s federal government has adopted the approach to fight dengue infections — which surged to a record 6.5 million confirmed cases in the country last year — alongside other preventive measures such as vaccines.
Millions of genetically modified insects have been released in Brazil, but why didn’t anyone tell you about this before?
35003Noel Budeguer, Click Petroleo e Gas, 2025-08-04 08:29:56.
Few people realize, but Brazil is one of the most advanced countries in the world when it comes to biological pest control. Instead of relying solely on poisons and traps, Brazilian researchers are investing in technological solutions that, at first glance, seem like the stuff of science fiction: releasing modified mosquitoes and flies into the environment to prevent disease outbreaks and agricultural losses. The initiative may sound controversial, but it has already yielded impressive results—and, in some cases, may have prevented entire epidemics without anyone noticing. The logic behind these techniques is simple yet powerful. By releasing sterile or genetically modified males into the environment, they compete with natural males for females. When they win this contest and mate, the offspring born don't survive—or even hatch at all. The result is a drastic decline in the target pest's population. Two main approaches are used: the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which uses radiation to sterilize males, and genetic modification, which prevents reproduction through DNA alterations. Both methods eliminate the use of pesticides and have gained traction as sustainable and highly effective alternatives.
Screwworm Fly: US Threat & Prevention
34883News Directory 3, 2025-06-02 18:43:27.
A resurgence of the New World screwworm, a parasite known for consuming living flesh, is raising alarms in the U.S.cattle industry. For seven decades, the United States has waged an aerial war against this pest, scientifically known as C.hominivorax, which targets livestock and even humans. The U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA) pioneered a strategy in the 1950s involving the mass production, sterilization via radiation, and aerial release of sterile screwworms to disrupt the parasite’s reproduction cycle. This approach successfully created a barrier at the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia, effectively shielding North America. However, in 2022, this barrier was breached. Panama saw a surge in screwworm cases, and by 2024, the parasite was rapidly advancing northward.It has now reached Oaxaca and Veracruz in Mexico, prompting the U.S. to suspend live-cattle imports from Mexico. Wayne Cockrell,a Texas rancher and chair of the cattle-health committee for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, expressed concern about the potential return of the screwworm to Texas. He believes the current sterile-fly programme lacks the capacity to contain the outbreak.
Economic evaluation of Wolbachia deployment in Colombia: A modeling study
34812Shepard, D.S., Lee, S.R., Halasa-Rappel, Y.A., Rincon Perez, C.W., Harker Roa, A., PLoS One, 20. 2025-05-04 15:55:06.
Wolbachia are bacteria that inhibit dengue virus replication within the mosquito. A cluster-randomized trial in Indonesia found Wolbachia reduced virologically-confirmed dengue cases by 77.1%. Previous models predicted Wolbachia to be highly cost-effective in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brazil. To inform decisions about future extensions in Colombia, we performed economic evaluations of potential Wolbachia deployments in 11 target cities. We assembled the numbers and distribution by severity of reported dengue cases from Colombia’s national disease surveillance system and the health service provision registry (RIPS). An epidemiological panel of three experts estimated the shares of dengue that were non-medical, under-reported, or misreported as another disease. We determined costs (in 2020 US dollars at market prices) of treating dengue illness from the benchmark insurance tariff and RIPS data on treatment services per symptomatic dengue case. Our central estimates projected 10 years of efficacy and focused on Cali, the target city with the highest number of dengue cases. For Cali, we estimated a net health-sector savings of US$4.95 per person and averting 369 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100,000 population. From a societal perspective, at 10 years Wolbachia deployment is expected to have highly favorable benefit-cost ratios, with benefits per dollar invested of US$5.50 in Cali and US$4.68 over all target cities. Over 10 years, Wolbachia is highly beneficial on economic grounds, and almost universally cost saving. The Wolbachia program’s economic benefits exceeded its costs in all 11 cities. The program’s savings in healthcare costs alone would more than offset deployment costs nationally and in 9 of 11 target cities. Wolbachia is likely to be the most cost-effective or cost-saving dengue control option in municipalities with both high incidence of dengue and high population density, whereas areas with high dengue incidence but low population density should consider vaccination.
Recommendations for Implementing Innovative Technologies to Control Aedes aegypti: Population Suppression Using a Combination of the Incompatible and Sterile Insect Techniques (IIT-SIT), Based on the Mexican Experience/Initiative
34247Martín-Park, A., Contreras-Perera, Y., et al., Insects, 15:987. 2025-01-13 11:41:22.
The future of Aedes aegypti control emphasizes the transition from traditional insecticides toward more sustainable and multisectoral integrated strategies, like using Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes for population suppression or replacement. We reviewed the integration of the successful Mexican initiative, “Mosquitos Buenos”, with the key challenges outlined in the PAHO guidelines for incorporating innovative approaches into vector control programs. These challenges include establishing essential infrastructure, training personnel, managing field operations, and fostering community support. Our experience provides critical evidence to support the strategic National Plan for implementing and integrating IIT-SIT technologies to control Ae. aegypti and dengue. Furthermore, this experience serves as a foundation for other countries in the region interested in adopting these technologies. It underscores the importance of strategic planning, multisectoral collaboration, continuous evaluation, and scaling up innovative tools to ensure their long-term effectiveness and sustainability in urban areas where Aedes vectors and the diseases they transmit are endemic.
Evaluation of Wolbachia infection in Aedes aegypti suggests low prevalence and highly heterogeneous distribution in Medellín, Colombia
32509rley Calle-Tobón, Raúl Rojo-Ospina, et al., Acta Tropica, 260. 2024-10-08 09:19:14.
Dengue virus, transmitted mainly by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, is a significant public health challenge in tropical and subtropical countries, with an incidence that is growing at an alarming rate. The release of Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes has been suggested as a strategy to reduce the incidence of multiple arboviruses. In Medellín, Colombia, large-scale releases of Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were performed between 2017 and 2022 by the World Mosquito Program to facilitate population replacement. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence and distribution of Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti two years after completion of these releases. We conducted the sampling across 19 communes in Medellín, using 416 ovitraps to collect Ae. aegypti eggs from epidemiological weeks 26 to 41 in 2023. Upon hatching the collected eggs, we identified and pooled adult female Ae. aegypti for DNA extraction. Subsequently, we conducted PCR assays for the detection of Wolbachia infection in these mosquitoes. We used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and Bayesian methods to estimate the prevalence of Wolbachia infection, while using QGIS to analyze spatial distribution of infection in the region. A total of 774 female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes from 182 pools were evaluated. We detected Wolbachia in 33.5 % of pools, with an estimated individual minimum infection rate of 9.5 % and a maximum of 33.2 %. The prevalence varied significantly across communes, with the highest rates observed in the northeastern and southwestern areas. Spatial analysis revealed a highly heterogeneous island-like distribution of Wolbachia across Medellín with a few hotspots. The observed Wolbachia prevalence in this work was lower than previously reported. We suspect a decline in the prevalence of Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in Medellín following the completion of their release.
10 myths and misconceptions around modified mosquitoes
31627Milliam Murigi, k24, 2024-09-23 21:32:42.
In the fight against mosquito-borne diseases, scientists have turned to groundbreaking genetic technologies to reduce disease transmission. However, Genetically Modified (GM) mosquitoes have raised concerns and sparked myths and misconceptions around it. Abraham Isah, OFAB Project officer, Nigeria demystifies them. There have been allegations that scientists have secret agendas, and that is why they’re pushing for the release of Genetically Modified (GM) mosquitoes. However, the truth, releasing GM is intended to control populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, which spread malaria, dengue, and Zika virus. These mosquitoes are engineered to either reduce the population or make it less capable of transmitting diseases. This approach has been thoroughly tested and regulated by authorities like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure safety and efficacy. The primary goal is to reduce disease burden and improve public health, not to impose a hidden agenda.
Simulation-based economic evaluation of the Wolbachia method in Brazil: a cost-effective strategy for dengue control
30927Ivan Ricardo Zimmermann, Ricardo Ribeiro Alves Fernandes, Márcia Gisele Santos da Costa, et al, The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 35. 2024-06-03 15:30:09.
Dengue virus (DENV) is an arbovirus transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can cause severe conditions such as hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. These conditions are associated with adverse social, clinical, and economic consequences in Brazil. Herein, the Wolbachia mosquito replacement method is a promising dengue control strategy. We estimated the economic impact of implementing the Wolbachia mosquito replacement method in seven Brazilian cities. A mathematical microsimulation model tracked nearly 23 million inhabitants over a 20-year period, considering the transitions between five different health states (susceptible, inapparent, outpatient, hospitalised and death). Direct costs included local dengue control programs, Wolbachia implementation and dengue care. Indirect costs related to death and productivity loss, as well as disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) averted were also considered. Without Wolbachia, the model projected 1,762,688 reported dengue cases over 20 years. Implementing the Wolbachia method would avert at least 1,295,566 dengue cases, resulting in lower costs and greater effectiveness in all simulated cities. On average, for every 1000 inhabitants followed for 20 years, the Wolbachia method yielded a cost difference of USD 538,233.68 (BRL 2,691,168.40) and averted 5.56 DALYs. Net monetary benefits (NMB) were positive in all seven cities, ranging from USD 110.72 (BRL 553.59) to USD 1399.19 (BRL 6995.95) per inhabitant. Alternative scenarios have also shown a favourable return on investment with a positive benefit-cost ratio (BCR).
Biotech company implements controversial offspring-killing method to address dengue fever: ‘Will show a reduction of 20%’
29069Jeremiah Budin, The Cool Down, 2024-04-02 11:44:22.
"We can get out of this state of emergency."
Modified mosquitoes may save millions more lives in Latin America
28951Marina E. Franco, Axios, 2024-02-27 18:40:46.
A program that uses genetically engineered mosquitoes in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to reduce the prevalence of diseases that can be fatal may soon serve millions more people. Why it matters: Outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, zika and yellow fever —diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito —have long hit the Americas and other tropical regions hard. Climate change has worsened the spread of these diseases, experts say, as rising temperatures favor the life cycle of the mosquitoes and their proliferation in more areas — including, increasingly, the U.S. These diseases also tend to affect impoverished regions where a lack of health care options mean mosquito bites can become deadly. Diseases such as dengue "feed on poverty and inequity, and they fuel it also," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week during an event in Brazil.
The mosquito knows no borders: Regional challenges for global confrontation in the dengue battle
28789Barçante JMdP, Cherem J, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 18. 2024-01-04 14:05:29.
Dengue fever is a neglected disease with a global impact, and its incidence and geographical reach are rapidly expanding. Global warming marked by higher average temperatures, precipitation, and longer periods of drought could prompt a record number of dengue fever infections worldwide, due to the thermal biology of mosquitoes. Additionally, increased movement of people, urbanization, and pressure on water and sanitation have driven the spread of dengue fever. The absence of access to tap water leads to an increased reliance on water-storing containers, which can facilitate the breeding of mosquitoes. Similarly, the lack of sanitation can contribute to the formation of small pools of stagnant water, serving as ideal breeding grounds for Aedes. While more prevalent in the tropical and subtropical regions, this viral infection, transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes, poses a serious public health problem, with outbreaks increasing in number and severity worldwide. In Europe, Aedes mosquito vector species are established in about 22 countries, and dengue fever has been reported for over a decade. In addition to the factors mentioned earlier, the increase in mosquito breeding sites has been identified as a determining factor for the rise in the number of cases.
Massive mosquito factory in Brazil aims to halt dengue
24984M. Lenharo, Nature, 2023-04-14 09:48:56.
The non-profit World Mosquito Program (WMP) has announced that it will release modified mosquitoes in many of Brazil’s urban areas over the next 10 years, with the aim of protecting up to 70 million people from diseases such as dengue. Researchers have tested the release of this type of mosquito — which carries a Wolbachia bacterium that stops the insect from transmitting viruses — in select cities in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Vietnam. But this will be the first time that the technology is dispersed nationwide. A mosquito factory will be built in a location yet to be determined in Brazil to supply the WMP’s ambitious initiative, in partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a Brazilian public science institution in Rio de Janeiro. The facility should begin operating in 2024 and will produce up to five billion mosquitoes per year. “This will be the biggest facility in the world” to produce Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, says Scott O’Neill, a microbiologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and head of the WMP. “And it will allow us in a short period of time to cover more people than in any other country.” Brazil has one of the highest rates of dengue infection in the world, reporting more than two million cases in 2022.Despite the positive results from past mosquito releases, researchers expect that it will be challenging to operate the technology at such a massive scale.
Turns Out Fighting Mosquitoes With Mosquitoes Actually Works
24018E. Mullin, Wired, 2022-11-21 08:56:57.
In the Brazilian city of Indaiatuba, an effort is underway to eliminate these pests before they have a chance to spread illness. The weapon: more Aedes aegypti mosquitoes—but ones genetically engineered to kill their own kind. Made by British biotechnology firm Oxitec, the mosquitoes seem to be working. The modified mosquitoes carry a synthetic self-limiting gene that prevents female offspring from surviving. This is important, because only the females bite and transmit disease. In a new study, scientists at the company showed that their engineered insects were able to slash the local population of Aedes aegypti by up to 96 percent over 11 months in the neighborhoods where they were released. “This is an area with high levels of Aedes aegypti, and they periodically have outbreaks of dengue,” says Nathan Rose, head of malaria programs at Oxitec. In fact, this summer the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported that dengue fever was continuing to spread in all five regions of the country. Between January 1 and May 31, Brazil had more than 1.1 million cases—an increase of 198 percent compared to the same period in 2021. In those five months, the disease, which causes high fever, rash, and muscle and joint pain, killed 504 people. For the study, which was conducted in 2018 and 2019, the company chose four densely populated neighborhoods with high levels of Aedes aegypti. In two, scientists released a “dose” of 100 male mosquitoes per resident per week. In the others, they cranked that up to 500.
Fall armyworms with offspring-killing gene tested on farms in Brazil
21020M. Le Page, New Scientist, 2022-03-15 06:46:51.
Fall armyworms genetically modified to wipe out wild populations of the pests have been released in corn fields in São Paulo State in Brazil in the first farm trial of the new technology. The test was a success and is now being expanded, says Oxitec, the UK-based company that created the modified armyworms. Fall armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda) are in fact moth caterpillars. They get their name from the fact that they multiply very fast and feed on many plants. Swarms of armyworms can devastate everything from lawns to crops in just days. They are native to the Americas, but in recent years have spread across Africa, Asia and Australia, reducing harvests of some crops by up to half. Conventional control methods aren’t working well because some strains have evolved resistance to many pesticides. “There is a lot of interest in new solutions to this pest,” says Neil Morrison at Oxitec. “Growers are struggling to control it through insecticidal means.” For its method of control, Oxitec took a strain of fall armyworm that is still susceptible to pesticides and modified males so that their female offspring can survive only in the presence of a specific chemical. In other words, the males carry a gene that kills all their female offspring in the wild.
IMPACTOS AMBIENTAIS DA TÉCNICA DE GENE DRIVE PARA O CONTROLE DE EPIDEMIAS: ALCANCES E LIMITES DO PRINCÍPIO DA PRECAUÇÃO
23875N. R. Furtado, PERI Revista de Filosofia, 13. 2022-01-19 09:24:19.
The paper discusses the application of the precautionary principle in the management of environmental risks arising from the use of gene drives to control epidemics. Gene drives consist of a technique for creating genetically modified organisms, which are released into an ecosystem with the aim of spreading certain genetic elements and prevailing over native organisms. Among the possible uses of this technique are the control of epidemics. Despite its benefits, assessing the impact of gene drives on the environment proves to be a challenge. In the field of biotechnology, the socalled precautionary principle was formulated as a strategy to ground decisions whose consequences are uncertain. However, its application raises discussions about the ability to prevent damage from new technologies. Its critics argue that the precautionary mentality could lead to inaction, obstructing scientific development. Thus, this article highlights the contributions of such principle to guide the use of gene drives, while reflecting on its limits, confronting it with an alternative risk management model: the proactionary principle.
Oxitec Announces Ground-breaking Commercial Launch of Its Friendly™ Aedes aegypti Solution in Brazil
19395Oxitec, COSION, 2021-11-03 17:40:43.
Oxitec, the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests, announced today the landmark commercial launch of its Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution designed specifically for use by homeowners, businesses, and communities to control the dengue-spreading Aedes aegypti mosquito. This launch represents the first time globally that the benefits of using biologically engineered mosquito control technology that can be purchased directly by consumers. Having received full biosafety commercial approval in 2020 from the Brazilian government's biosafety authority, CTNBio, the company is making its just-add-water solution available for delivery directly to customers' doorsteps starting in the State of São Paulo. Available for purchase online, the product comprises durable outer boxes and Friendly™ male mosquito egg refill packs. Once delivered, customers need only to add water to the Friendly™ box, place it in a garden, patio, or around a home or business, and the boxes will produce Oxitec's non-biting male mosquitoes over time, which disperse to find and mate with invasive, biting Aedes aegypti females. Their female offspring cannot survive, which means fewer biting female mosquitoes in the following generations. While the Friendly™ Aedes aegypti males pursue and mate with female Aedes aegypti, customers need only reactivate the easy-to-use box once per month. This technology controls the pest without harming beneficial species like bees and butterflies and does not persist in the environment.
A Golden Menace
19202S. Moutinho, Science, 2021-10-21 14:46:14.
An even bigger catastrophe looms: the invasion of the Amazon and its tributaries, part of the largest drainage basin in South America, which spans eight countries and is one of the richest hot spots for biodiversity on the planet. Golden mussels have been documented in the Pantanal wetlands just 150 kilometers from the Téles Pires River, which flows into the Amazon basin and connects to the Tapajós River, a tributary of the Amazon.“It only takes one boat encrusted with the mussel to cross the wetlands for the invader to make a new home in an Amazon river,” says biologist Marcia Divina at the state-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. If the invader spreads in the Amazon, it could wipe out native species that scientists have not even studied yet, she adds. “We can’t even calculate the size of the impact.”Despite a late and anemic government response, researchers funded largely by affected hydroelectric companies have developed new tools to track the mussels’ relentless advance. And some are looking to an aggressive form of genetic engineering to eradicate it. That untested strategy is still likely years from being ready to deploy, but scientists see few other ways to slow an invader so easily spread by human transit and trade.
Next gen insect control
16960E. Unglesbee, Progressive Farmer, 2021-05-04 14:58:12.
Dubbed "self-limiting" insects by their makers, a UK-based biotechnology company called Oxitec, these insects are genetically modified (GM) with an inserted gene that permits only male offspring to survive. Once released into a pest community, the GM insects gradually lower the population, accomplishing a new type of pest control. Then, rather politely, they die off themselves. "After we stop releasing the self-limiting males, the gene declines in a population over a short period of time and within a few generations, disappears," Neil Morrison, head of agriculture programs for Oxitec, told DTN. "It's a gene that prevents survival of half its carriers -- the females -- so it's essentially programmed to decline and disappear quite rapidly." Sound too sci-fi to be real? It's actually happening right now, in the Florida Keys. After gaining EPA and state regulatory approval for the project last year, Oxitec is working with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District to deploy the country's first largescale release of Oxitec's self-limiting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
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
FKMCD – Oxitec | Mosquito Project Webinar Series
15564Oxitec Ltd, FKMCD and Oxitec, 2020-12-18 15:43:23.
This FKMCD - Oxitec Public Educational Webinar, our ninth, shows how Oxitec's just-add-water technology helps control the Aedes aegypti mosquito population. The second half of the webinar includes questions and answers with attendees.
Vector-Focused Approaches to Curb Malaria Transmission in the Brazilian Amazon: An Overview of Current and Future Challenges and Strategies
15960E. M. Rocha, R. D. Katak, J. C. de Oliveira, M. D. Araujo, B. C. Carlos, R. Galizi, F. Tripet, O. Marinotti and J. A. Souza, Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 5. 2020-10-20 18:16:39.
Here we present an overview on both conventional and novel promising vector-focused tools to curb malaria transmission in the Brazilian Amazon. If well designed and employed, vector-based approaches may improve the implementation of malaria-control programs, particularly in remote or difficult-to-access areas and in regions where existing interventions have been unable to eliminate disease transmission. However, much effort still has to be put into research expanding the knowledge of neotropical malaria vectors to set the steppingstones for the optimization of conventional and development of innovative vector-control tools.
‘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.
Editorial Expression of Concern: Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population
16199B. R. Evans, P. Kotsakiozi, A. L. Costa-Da-Silva, R. S. Ioshino, L. Garziera, M. C. Pedrosa, A. Malavasi, J. F. Virginio, M. L. Capurro and J. R. Powell, Scientific Reports, 10:2. 2020-03-24 15:17:41.
Shortly after publication of this Article in September 2019, the Editors were alerted to concerns regarding the interpretation of the data and some of the conclusions.
Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population
16197B. R. Evans, P. Kotsakiozi, A. L. Costa-da-Silva, R. S. Ioshino, L. Garziera, M. C. Pedrosa, A. Malavasi, J. F. Virginio, M. L. Capurro and J. R. Powell, Scientific Reports, 9:6. 2019-09-10 15:09:04.
We genotyped the release strain and the target Jacobina population before releases began for >21,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genetic sampling from the target population six, 12, and 27-30 months after releases commenced provides clear evidence that portions of the transgenic strain genome have been incorporated into the target population. Evidently, rare viable hybrid offspring between the release strain and the Jacobina population are sufficiently robust to be able to reproduce in nature. The release strain was developed using a strain originally from Cuba, then outcrossed to a Mexican population. Thus, Jacobina Ae. aegypti are now a mix of three populations. It is unclear how this may affect disease transmission or affect other efforts to control these dangerous vectors. These results highlight the importance of having in place a genetic monitoring program during such releases to detect un-anticipated outcomes.
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