Can transgenic mosquitoes become the

Initial success from experiments on genetically modified mosquitoes has set expectations to turn them into drugs to treat the most common disease in Asia and Latin America today - dengue fever. Optimism seems to be evident in many scientists, but the incomplete probability of this option also raises concerns.

Undeniable benefits

The creation of transgenic mosquitoes has been underway for 20 years, but only recently has the scheme been used by health officials. Typically, Malaysia, the first country in Asia, plans to experimentally release genetically modified mosquitoes into the environment, in response to the dengue pandemic. The country's medical research institute has completed its plan to release thousands of genetically modified male mosquitoes so they can mate with normal female mosquitoes, creating mosquitoes that have a shorter lifespan and are unable to transmit disease.

Not only Malaysia, many other countries, including Vietnam also want to test transgenic mosquitoes. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Sinh Nam, Deputy Director of Preventive Medicine Department, Ministry of Health, after succeeding in breeding genetically modified mosquitoes carrying bacteria of Wolbachia fruit flies, Vietnam will also experiment to release them at Tri Nguyen Island. , Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province in 2011.

Genetically modified mosquitoes are a product of Oxitec Biotechnology Company (based in the UK) and Malaysian Medical Research Institute. The idea of ​​studying this type of mosquito is based on the mating activity of the mosquito itself. Transgenic mosquitoes have two new characteristics compared to mosquitoes, which often contain fluorescent genes and conditional death genes (also called resistance-reducing genes). The fluorescence characteristics act as a sign to identify genetically modified mosquitoes while the lethal gene causes mosquitoes and larvae to die under certain conditions. When male transgenic mosquitoes mate with female mosquitoes in nature, the dead gene will be passed on to descendants and larvae, resulting in them dying in the absence of tetracyline antibiotics.

In order to test the results of genetically modified mosquitoes, Oxitec scientists released three batches of genetically modified mosquitoes of OX513A Aedes aegypti strain on an area of ​​16 hectares in Cayman Islands. British. The amount of mosquitoes here has decreased by 80% compared to neighboring areas in just 6 months. If commonly used, this option is considered to be a prospect that can significantly prevent dengue epidemic globally.

The reason that transgenic mosquitoes receive much consensus is because the use of this type of mosquito - according to the views of the transgenic opinion advocates - is much safer and more friendly than using chemistry. Scientists even plan to create a series of genetically engineered 'insect' insects, bees, worms and flies, to combat pandemic diseases that are spread through insects. coincide, and at the same time create conditions for increasing crop yields and agricultural products, helping to stabilize food security.

. but is it sustainable?

It is expected that the plan will make a breakthrough in medicine and agriculture, but the technology of transgenic mosquitoes is also controversial, even criticized by many individuals and organizations for its lack of transparency. testing process and because they have not been carefully verified.

Some experts also have doubts about the sustainability of transgenic mosquitoes when it is said that the environment will be more badly affected if this type of mosquito is " applied " by mosquitoes which are the food of many other species. . 'Many species will starve if mosquitoes no longer exist, or increase the number of other species or appear new species,' says Pete Riley, GM Freeze non-governmental organization (UK), who advocates objections to creatures. Genetically altered.

WHO predicts about 50 million dengue cases each year, including 25,000 deaths. About 2.5 billion people, or two-thirds of the world's population, are at risk for mosquito-borne dengue fever. The place most threatened by dengue fever is Southeast Asia and most of Africa. In Malaysia, in the first 10 months of 2010 there were 117 out of 37,000 dengue cases that died, up 65% over the same period last year.

As one of the pioneers of initiating transgenic mosquito testing, the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is not keen on this plan. He worries that transgenic mosquitoes not only prevent dengue fever but also cause immeasurable consequences.

A series of other questions and potential dangers have also been raised by Third World Network (TWN) in the case of using transgenic mosquito therapy. TWN said that it would be risky when Malaysia prepared to test mosquitoes of particularly importance without ever assessing the risks associated with them. Rather, the TWN does not yet trust the research results in the laboratory of Oxitec scientists and the Malaysian Institute of Medical Research.

The first suspicion focused on the mating ability of transgenic male mosquitoes with wild female mosquitoes when they are in an uncontrolled environment. The mating mechanism of mosquitoes is quite complicated, so it is not easy for mosquitoes to be found in children. In addition, how to ensure that transgenic mosquitoes cannot cause a new disease in the future? And who will be responsible in case of unexpected effects when the actual test?

The goal of the experiment, though only using transgenic male mosquitoes, but if the classification process is not really accurate, it is likely that female mosquitoes are still mixed. Outstripping female mosquitoes will increase the risk of disease because only this type of mosquito will suck blood and transmit disease.

There is no guarantee that the larvae produced by male and female female mosquitoes will die completely without tetracycline antibiotics in the natural environment. Tetracycline is an antibiotic widely used in livestock and health, so if they exist in the environment, it will contribute to reducing the effectiveness of the gene causing conditional death in male transgenic mosquitoes and inevitably increases survival rate. in larvae. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully assess the existence of this antibiotic in the test environment before transgenic mosquitoes are released.

This concern is completely grounded because, theoretically, the larvae will die after 'inheriting' the gene from the genetically modified mosquito, but in fact there are still small percentage of surviving larvae. Many published documents show that even in laboratory conditions, there are still 3-4% of larvae living to adulthood.

Also according to TWN, transgenic mosquitoes are dangerous but play an important role in the ecological ecosystem of Malaysia. It affects the abundance of species that have food as mosquitoes. In particular, the production of genetic factors that cause infertility may also increase the harm to this country's ecosystem.

The current monitoring of transgenic mosquitoes depends mainly on fluorescence characteristics, but the genetic effect also has many errors, so the production and marking of this type of mosquito may be reduced and some Transgenic mosquitoes may not be identified by fluorescence characteristics. If this happens, transgenic mosquitoes will survive in an uncontrolled environment, so an evaluation plan as well as a full monitoring system should be in place to eliminate the number of "bug" mosquitoes. test environment.

One more issue to consider before Malaysia experimented with this type of mosquito is to specifically inform people about the location and how to test it, especially the testing unit needs to sign a commitment on clear terms. forced throughout the implementation process to ensure openness and transparency.

Although transgenic mosquitoes are not new, the experience of evaluating and managing this type of mosquito in the world is still limited. Even international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety have only recently developed and completed guidelines on transgenic mosquitoes. Therefore, a full assessment of the expected risks and impacts of this type of mosquito strategy, in particular, is required to develop monitoring reports throughout the testing process by the association. International science co-implementation before considering testing transgenic mosquitoes elsewhere in the world.

TWN proposes a more cautious approach to the use of this type of mosquitoes, whereby the authorities can test transgenic mosquitoes in areas with nets to prevent them from escaping, at the same time, effective, safe and affordable measures should be strengthened, such as using mosquito repellents made from plants or maximizing removal of germs that cause mosquitoes.

In particular, it is necessary to answer all questions regarding the safety of the community as well as the ecological environment before testing transgenic mosquitoes anywhere - this is also what TWN and many individuals and organizations different mind.