GM mosquito wild release takes campaigners by surprise
Katherine Nightingale
11 November 2010
Translation by Autumnson Blog
Experts in the safety of genetically modified (GM) organisms have expressed concern over the release of GM mosquitoes into the wild on the Cayman Islands, which was publicised internationally only last month — a year after their initial release.
轉基因生物的安全專家表達關注，對在開曼群島上把轉基因蚊子釋放到野外。這件事直到上個月才被公開 - 在最初的釋放後一年時間。
GM mosquitoes were released on the islands last year — but only publicised last monthFlickr/lyng883
轉基因蚊子去年在這些島上被釋放 - 但只在上月公佈
The trial of the OX513A strain of the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito, developed by UK biotechnology company Oxitec, was carried out on Grand Cayman island by the Cayman Islands' Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) in 2009, followed by a bigger release between May and October this year. Together they represent the first known release of GM mosquitoes anywhere in the world.
由英國生物技術公司Oxitec開發的登革熱帶菌的埃及伊蚊的OX513A品種的試驗，是在大開曼島上進行，2009年由開曼群島的蚊子研究及控制組（MRCU）進行；隨後在今年5月和10月間有更大規模的釋放。整體的試驗代表全世界的首次釋放轉基因蚊子。
Unpublished results of the trials, showing that the GM male mosquitoes competed with wild males, were presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual meeting in the United States, last week (4 November).
尚未發表的試驗結果顯示，轉基因雄蚊與野生雄蚊競爭，結果於上週（11月4日）在美國熱帶醫學與衛生學會的年會上公佈。
The male GM mosquitoes mate with normal females to produce larvae that die unless the antibiotic tetracycline is present. In tetracycline's absence an enzyme accumulates to a toxic level, killing the larvae. The developers hope the strategy could be combined with other mosquito control methods to reduce transmission in dengue-prone areas.
轉基因雄蚊與正常雌蚊交配以產生幼蟲，它們死亡除非有抗生素四環素的存在。在缺乏四環素的情況下，一種酶會積累到有毒的濃度而殺死幼蟲。開發者希望策略可與其它的蚊子控制策略結合，從而減少地區上的易發登革熱的傳播。
Ricarda Steinbrecher, a geneticist and co-director of EcoNexus — a UK-based non-profit research organisation — expressed surprise that the trials had occurred, saying that they had not been mentioned at the fifth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety — which addresses international safety issues relating to GM organisms — in Nagoya, Japan, last month.
She described the lack of publicity surrounding the trials as "worrying, both from the scientific perspective as well as public participation perspective".
Steinbrecher said that until a full, long-term environmental assessment of the Cayman trials has been carried out, the recently announced Malaysian trials of the same strain should not go ahead.
Just over three million male mosquitoes were released in the Cayman Islands this year. Oxitec sent the GM eggs to the islands, which are a British overseas territory, and they were hatched and grown at the MRCU.
Angela Harris, senior researcher at MRCU, told SciDev.Net that her unit consulted with several Cayman Islands' government departments beforehand.
"Currently there is a draft biosafety bill, and despite the fact that this bill has not yet been implemented we carried out a risk analysis and review of the trial as if this bill was already in place."
She said that there had been a newspaper article and public consultation within the Cayman Islands.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit dengue feverFlickr/Marco Gaiani
傳播登革熱的黑斑蚊屬埃及伊蚊
Luke Alphey, research director at Oxitec, said an extensive risk analysis was carried out and "we did lots of engagement work in Cayman, but no special effort either to spread the word internationally or not to [do so]". On the sidelines of a press conference in London today he said that he had not wanted to publicise the trial until the results were known. He did not know what the Nagoya meeting was, he said. An environmental assessment of the trial site is now being carried out.
Alphey said that the experiment complied with the Cartagena Protocol because prior informed consent was obtained from the Cayman government.
John Marshall, of Imperial College London, who has argued that the Cartagena Protocol needs overhauling to deal with the special demands of GM insects, said: "Because the mosquitoes aren't going to spread to other countries, it's a national issue. I think Oxitec has done everything they needed to do."
The wild mosquito population in a 16-hectare urban area is believed to have been reduced by about 80 per cent. The next step for Oxitec, said Alphey, is to test the strategy in conjunction with other mosquito control methods.
Kathy Jo Wetter, a researcher with the ETC Group (Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Cooperation), a Canada-based organisation that promotes the socially responsible development of technologies, said ETC was unaware of the release.
"Oxitec considers its trial 'successful' just days after the experiment has ended," she said. "But unintended impacts on the environment cannot be known, and Oxitec's unproven technology could make things worse in the long term. There is no possibility of recall if something goes wrong — who takes responsibility in that case?"
"Extreme techno-fixes require extreme precaution," she added.
Alphey said they are waiting for approval for the release of GM mosquitoes in Brazil, Panama and the United States.
See below for a video of rearing and release of Oxitec's GM mosquitoes in the Cayman islands by the Mosquito Research and Control Unit (Grand Cayman):
MRCU Sterile Mosquitoes
MRCU不生育的蚊子西元2010年10月04日
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/gm-mosquito-wild-release-takes-campaigners-by-surprise.html
Mosquito Research & Control Unit
蚊子研究及控制組
西元2009年09月28日
科學家開發不能傳遞瘧疾的轉基因蚊子
轉基因蚊能被用來散佈瘧疾疫苗接種
馬來西亞放出6,000隻轉基因蚊子入野
英科學家培育出基因突變蚊子 有望消滅瘧疾
轉基因蚊子被放出 - 關注增加
沒有留言:
發佈留言