Plan to Use ‘Killer’ Mosquitoes vs Dengue Draws Fire
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 17, 2010 (IPS) - Genetically modified ‘terminator’ mosquitoes are the latest weapons that the Malaysian government wants to use against the deadly dengue fever, but activists and environmentalists say the public health risks of introducing a new ‘artificial’ strain of mosquito are far too high.
The government has discussed plans to release in December male ‘terminator’ mosquitoes with ‘killer’ genes that would lead to a reduction in the population of the Aedes mosquito, which carries and transmits the dengue virus to humans.
Under what would be a pilot project devised by British and Malaysian scientists, the genetically engineered male Aedes mosquitoes would pass on – when they mate with the wild female of the species – lethal genes that would kill the larvae of the female.
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 17, 2010 (IPS) - Genetically modified ‘terminator’ mosquitoes are the latest weapons that the Malaysian government wants to use against the deadly dengue fever, but activists and environmentalists say the public health risks of introducing a new ‘artificial’ strain of mosquito are far too high.
The government has discussed plans to release in December male ‘terminator’ mosquitoes with ‘killer’ genes that would lead to a reduction in the population of the Aedes mosquito, which carries and transmits the dengue virus to humans.
Under what would be a pilot project devised by British and Malaysian scientists, the genetically engineered male Aedes mosquitoes would pass on – when they mate with the wild female of the species – lethal genes that would kill the larvae of the female.
This is supposed to lead to an eventual fall in the number of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, especially the females that are the ones that transmit the dengue virus.
(Read more @ IPS ipsnews.net)
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