Genetically Modified (GM) mosquitoes could soon be unleashed in the country to control the population of their own dengue and chikungunya virus transmitting species. British company, Oxitec, which developed the technology, partnered with a company in the country to test and evaluate GM mosquitoes. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), dengue is a fast emerging pandemic-prone viral disease in many parts of the world. According to the ministry of health and family welfare, there were 1,209 dengue cases and six deaths in the state last year while this year there have been 96 cases and one death. About 70 cases of chikungunya have been confirmed this year.
Dengue and chikungunya are primarily transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti, also called the yellow fever mosquito. Oxitec’s procedure is primarily population control, but after allowing the vectors to reproduce. Mosquitoes are genetically modified so that they need a diet supplement, tetracycline, during larval development. These GM vectors are released in the open after which they mate with the female mosquitoes. And since they want the supplement, their offspring die in the early stages. The males are also short-lived.
Luke Alphey, chief scientist, Oxitec and a visiting professor in zoology, University of Oxford, said in an email, “Remember that our sterile males do produce sperm; these transmit the lethal gene to the offspring which then die.” But since only the male is GM, the question of the female re-mating and reproducing normal offspring arises. To this, he answered, “In general females mate only once.”
” He thinks this is why non-sperm producing males wouldn’t work. The company said it has released GM mosquitoes in Brazil and the Cayman Islands and reported “suppression of target wild populations of Aedes Aegypti in both Brazil and Cayman by 80 per cent or more”. The process would need about four releases of GM mosquitoes every week in some target areas which will be around 20-100 males per week per resident in a particular area.