GM Mosquitoes:
Manipulating a corner of the ecosystem to halt the transmission of Malaria
Ethical, Legal, & Social Issues
An Example:
On February 15th, 2014, the UK bio-tech company, Oxitec, began releasing GM mosquitoes in Nuevo Chorillo, Panama, to decrease the population of the vector for dengue fever (Aedes aegypti). The mosquitoes released were males who would produce offspring that would die in the pupal stage (the RIDL system, or Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal).
In a previous study in 2009, and then a larger study in 2010, Oxitec's GM mosquitoes were also released in the Cayman Islands, a British territory. The mosquito population decreased 80% within three months. The 2009 study was the first small outdoor trial of GM mosquitoes in the world. This trial surprised many people because the trial was not publicized internationally, and the international community - including close collaborators of scientists at Oxitec - had been working on guidelines for GM mosquito release. The guidelines in development were sensitive to principles of education and consent of people living in target areas.
It is becoming increasingly important to the public and to scientists to have a guideline for releasing GM mosquitoes. The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases based at the World Health Organization (known as TDR and co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank and WHO) and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in the United States, are working together to develop a process and framework to provide quality standards for assessing the safety and efficacy of GM mosquitoes, particularly those with modifications that confer resistance to Plasmodium and would persist in the ecosystem, rather than release of sterile males or the Oxitec RIDL system. There have been multiple studies and editorials about the ethical issues surrounding the use of GM mosquitoes. For examples of these studies, click this link or this one.