Genetically Modified mosquito under trial in a lab near Chennai

Trials on the Genetically Modified (GM) mosquito engineered by
researchers at the University of Oxford to control dengue/chikungunya
are under way at a laboratory near Chennai.The Department of
Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, gave permission to conduct
the evaluation in India. It is in progress at the International
Institute of Biotechnology And Toxicology (IIBAT) at Padappai near
Chennai. The trials have reached the second stage."It is a promising
technology which deploys genetically sterile Aedes aegypti male
mosquitoes to fight the disease-causing ones," S.S. Vasan, Visiting
Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and Head of Public Health,
Oxitec (Oxford Insect Technologies), said speaking to The Hindu here
on Thursday. Oxitec, a company founded in 2002 to commercialise
science and technology invented at the university, is working with
about 10 countries, including India, to carry out the trials under
confined conditions, according to Dr. Vasan. In India, the 'GM
mosquito technology' is being evaluated after having obtained
clearance from the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation,
DBT."Around 55 per cent of the world population is at risk of getting
dengue and 120 countries are endemic. So, the University of Oxford has
developed this GM mosquito technology in its laboratory by spending
millions of pounds," he said.The third stage would involve limited
open trials, after which the release of technology could be considered
if all the regulatory parameters were satisfactorily met. The DBT had
appointed a five-member expert committee to oversee the trials in
India "and we are getting the technology independently evaluated by
passing on the GM mosquito strains.""The goal is not to completely
eradicate dengue or chikungunya. That is not possible. It is to bring
it below the threshold of disease transmission through GM sterile
mosquitoes," Dr. Vasan said.

The Hindu, June 19