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Science snipes at Oxitec transgenic-mosquito trial

Nature Biotechnology volume 29, pages 9–10 (2011)Cite this article

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Oxitec's plans for transgenic mosquito trials have not been without controversy in the past. They have been criticized by environmental groups, such as Ottawa-based ETC Group and EcoNexus of Oxford, concerned about the risks of releasing an entirely new strain of organism into the environment. Activists warn that transgenic insect releases that reduce wild mosquito numbers might not only create an 'empty niche', which other potentially damaging insects might fill, but also affect organisms higher in the food chain that rely on mosquitoes as a dietary source.

The present spat, however, centers around disagreements over the rapid move to an open release of insects and in particular the way in which the existence of the trial was communicated to the community and public at large. Luke Alphey, CSO of Oxitec, concedes that researchers may have differing views on how to plan and execute such field tests; however, he says he hasn't received any complaints from the community nor has he been scolded by his Gates collaborator James, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. When contacted by Nature Biotechnology, James declined to comment, but a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation says of a different trial Oxitec is running in Mexico in collaboration with the Foundation that “we are happy with the way that is going.”

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    Nidhi Subbaraman

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Subbaraman, N. Science snipes at Oxitec transgenic-mosquito trial. Nat Biotechnol 29, 9–10 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0111-9a

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