GM mosquito trial results in Cayman prove ineffective in tackling dengue

Activist Post

GM insect company Oxitec today published results of its trials of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes in the Cayman Islands in 2010 (1). The results were originally submitted to the journal Science in January 2011 but have now finally been published in Nature Biotechnology (1). The paper shows that Oxitec has no clear baseline for claims made in the press that it achieved an 80% reduction in the target population of mosquitoes, and that to achieve the claimed effect it significantly increased the number of adult GM mosquitoes it expected to release and also released additional GM pupae at locations spaced at 70 to 90m apart across the release site.

GM dengue mosquito - Wiki image

"This poor quality paper pours cold water on the idea that Oxitec's GM mosquitoes will be an effective way to tackle dengue" said Dr Helen Wallace, Director of GeneWatch UK. "Staff would be better employed using the well-established public health approach of removing mosquito breeding sites rather than in placing GM mosquito pupae at intervals across a site. Removing the flower pots and water containers where mosquitoes breed has the added benefit of reducing both mosquito species that spread dengue, not just one of them. It is hard to see how Oxitec can justify commercial releases of its GM mosquitoes based on such poor data."