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GENET-news articles on GE mosquitoes

compilation of all relevant GENET-news articles

GE mosquitoes in Malaysia

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GE mosquitoes on the Cayman Islands

click to read news on GE mosqitoes from the Cayman Islands only

2012-01-16 |

GE mosquitoes didn’t persist says Cayman Islands control unit

Fears that genetically modified mosquitoes had bred and produced surviving offspring in the local population of insects are unfounded the director of Cayman’s Mosquito Research & Control Unit has said. [...] “We monitored the mosquito population very thoroughly for several months after the pilot study was conducted, and found an initial reduction in the population of around 80 percent,” Petrie said. “This suppression of the population was sustained for some considerable time. These data refute any allegation that the released mosquitoes persisted in the environment.”

2012-01-12 |

Cayman’s ”sterile” GM mosquitoes could have reproduced

The genetically modified mosquitoes released in the Cayman Islands over a year ago as part of a research study on the eradication of dengue fever by the UK-based company Oxitec could have reproduced and mixed in with the local population. According to a redacted document released to GeneWatch UK following a freedom of information request in Britain, the genetically modified pests, which the manufacturer described as sterile, did produce offspring around 15 percent of which survived. During the study the GM mozzies were fed cat food containing chicken contaminated with low levels of tetracycline, which allowed the mosquitoes to reproduce with their offspring surviving to adulthood.

2012-01-05 |

U.S. researchers produce GE mosquitoes that kill malaria parasites

Researchers have genetically engineered mosquitoes to boost their immune system, thereby blocking transmission of the disease to humans. The altered mosquitoes produce higher than normal levels of the immune system protein, Rel2. That activates a host of anti-parasitic molecules which, in turn, launch an all-out attack on the malaria parasite. The parasite enters the insect’s gut after it takes a blood meal from infected humans.

2012-01-05 |

Release of genetically altered mosquitoes in Florida (USA) delayed

Confusion over government permits will delay the planned release of genetically altered mosquitoes in Key West for several months. The pilot program outlined by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District would release a test batch of about 5,000 to 10,000 mosquitoes -- the Aedes aegypti species that carries dengue fever -- that have been specifically bred to produce offspring that die young. Once planned for January, any release now will can occur no sooner than “late spring,” said district Executive Director Michael Doyle.

2011-12-27 |

Friends of the Earth USA wary of GE mosqitoes

An environmental group is questioning the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District’s plan to introduce sterile mosquitoes into the Keys to battle the spread of dengue fever. The district has partnered with the England-based company Oxitec on the project and plans to introduce the mosquitoes sometime in 2012. The district is currently waiting on federal and state approval to test the technology, Executive Director Michael Doyle said. The Keys would be the first community in the United States to test the technology.

2011-12-06 |

Oxitec may release GE mosquitoes in Florida (USA)

Mosquito season is waning, but a futuristic new swarm could be coming to a canal near you. The federal government is quietly considering letting British company Oxitec release genetically engineered mosquitoes in the Florida Keys as soon as this week. The mosquitoes are engineered with a lethal gene to make offspring die before reaching adulthood, breaking the pest’s reproductive cycle. The company claims this would theoretically reduce the mosquito population and the prevalence of dengue fever.

2011-11-22 |

Philippine biotech meetings discuss application of GE mosquitoes and fruit flies

On November 23 there will be a public forum on human care and biotechnology coordinated by the Department of Health. It will take up the issue on how to possibly address dengue by using genetically modified mosquitoes. [...] in the afternoon of the 25th a round table discussion sponsored by the DA in cooperation with the Biotech Coalition of the Philippines will tackle the use of genetically modified fruit flies.

2011-11-16 |

Why we aren’t ready to use GE mosquitoes to fight malaria and dengue

all of these recent attempts to turn mosquitoes into malaria- and dengue-killing machines have something in common: The modified mosquitoes need to have lots of sex to spread their altered genes through the wild population. They must live long enough to become sexually active, and they have to compete successfully for mates with their wild peers. And that is a problem, because we still know surprisingly little about the behavior and ecology of mosquitoes, especially the males. How far do they travel? What separates the Casanovas from the sexual failures. What affects their odds of survival in the wild? How should you breed the growing mosquitoes to make them sexier?

2011-11-01 |

Concerns are raised about genetically engineered mosquitoes

Researchers on Sunday reported initial signs of success from the first release into the environment of mosquitoes engineered to pass a lethal gene to their offspring, killing them before they reach adulthood.
The results, and other work elsewhere, could herald an age in which genetically modified insects will be used to help control agricultural pests and insect-borne diseases like dengue fever and malaria. But the research is arousing concern about possible unintended effects on public health and the environment, because once genetically modified insects are released, they cannot be recalled.

2011-10-26 |

Business and politics of Oxitec’s GE mosquitoes

Scientists have genetically engineered mosquitoes with a self-destruct mechanism, an advance that could slow the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. One team of scientists has been conducting tests of the mosquitoes in cages in southern Mexico. Another has been releasing mosquitoes out into the wild. The intentional release of genetically modified insects has sparked international controversy, especially because the first releases were conducted in secret.

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