8 votes

EPA grants first permit to test genetically modified mosquitoes

3 comments

  1. vord
    Link
    This green-light is fantastic, but it does worry me that a private for-profit company has control of this and any resulting IP. I would feel much more comfortable with all of this information...

    This green-light is fantastic, but it does worry me that a private for-profit company has control of this and any resulting IP.

    I would feel much more comfortable with all of this information being 100% public domain and being done in a transparent, reproducibble way by multiple institutions.

    6 votes
  2. skybrian
    Link
    From the article:

    From the article:

    British biotech company Oxitec Ltd was granted an experimental use permit to release a genetically engineered type of the mosquito species Aedes aegypti, which is a known vector of Zika virus and viruses that cause yellow fever and dengue fever, the Environmental Protection Agency office of Chemical Safety and Pollution announced.

    Oxitec must get state and local approval before it can start field testing. But if granted, testing will take place over a two-year period in Monroe County, Fla., starting this summer, and in Harris County, Texas, beginning in 2021.

    3 votes
  3. asoftbird
    (edited )
    Link
    Have they considered that ecosystem balance is often delicate, with things like birds feeding on insects suddenly not able to find food because there's less insects? I'm no specialist on this...

    Have they considered that ecosystem balance is often delicate, with things like birds feeding on insects suddenly not able to find food because there's less insects? I'm no specialist on this topic, but it seems like a bad idea to go from lab testing to full release without testing in a closed-off representative ecosystem.

    Edit: In their own statement, Oxitec states:

    "It is also anticipated that there would be no adverse effects to animals such as bats and fish in the environment."
    source

    A source for their claims wasn't stated.

    I checked the government database (link) and there are quite a few comments from people who oppose the decision.


    I checked some relevant news articles, (this one from ScienceMag) describes a 2019 analysis of the results of an OX513A (code for the GMO mosquito type) trial that Oxitec conducted in Brazil in 2011, where they concluded that their genes had altered the genes of the wild population. The paper speculates that the genetic mixing could "have made the mosquito population “more robust”—more resistant to insecticides, for example, or more likely to transmit disease".
    However, it received criticism that their results were 'overhyped' and 'irresponsible'. While the genetic mixing is an important find, there is no evidence for a "more robust" population of hybrid mosquitos. Research into their resistance to pesticides or ability to transmit diseases wasn't performed.


    I also found a research report from 2017 by the RIVM (the National Institute of Public Health of The Netherlands) which describes an environmental risk assessment for the release of OX513A on the island Saba. It discusses things like effects on the local food chain (like my initial question), health effects on humans and the potential of the genetic modification to accidentally cause the efficiency of the mosquito to spread diseases.

    One concern from one of the comments on the regulations website was that the antibiotic tetracyclin is used in the breeding process of OX513A which may cause pathogens in the ecosystem to gain resistance to that particular antibiotic.

    On page 49, it mentions:

    "The GMO Office also confirms that tetracycline is unlikely to be present
    in breeding sites of Aedes aegypti on Saba and tetracycline
    concentrations in human or animal blood are unlikely to support
    survival of OX513A.
    "

    (Note: the GMO Office is a subdivision of the RIVM).

    Later on, in the paper's conclusions, it is mentioned that:

    "For all areas of concern there was adequate information to conclude that
    potential adverse effects on human health and the environment as a
    consequence of the intended release of genetically modified OX513A on
    the island of Saba are considered to be negligible as compared to effects
    of non-modified Aedes aegypti and in the context of standard vector
    control.
    "

    And:

    "The GMO Office concludes that potential adverse effects on human
    health and the environment as a consequence of the potential release of
    genetically modified OX513A on the island of Saba, under the conditions
    as described in the documentation of Oxitec and in the context of
    standard vector control, are considered to be negligible as compared to
    effects of non-modified Aedes aegypti. This is in line with recent related
    environmental risk assessments such as from Brazil and the United
    States Food and Drug Administration.
    The GMO Office recommends post-release monitoring by an independent
    party, as advised by the WHO, on a monthly basis until populations of
    OX513A are below the level of detection.
    "

    3 votes