Topic: genetically modified mosquitoes
Hiring of Oxitech’s former lead scientist queried
Opposition MLA Kenneth Bryan queries the Mosquito Research and Control Unit’s hiring of Oxitech’s former lead scientist.
Genetically modified mosquitoes transfer genes into natural populations
Genetically modified mosquitoes, like those released in Grand Cayman, successfully interbred with natural populations in Brazil, according to the authors of a new study in the Nature science journal.
Minister: No more funds for genetically modified mosquito program
Cayman’s genetically modified mosquito project has not worked as effectively as government hoped and will be abandoned, Health Minister Dwayne Seymour said Thursday.
GM mosquito release halted
The release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Grand Cayman has stopped and no new public funds have been committed to the project for next year.
EDITORIAL – The revealing (and disturbing) MRCU/Oxitec emails
If it were not for Dr. Wheeler and MRCU Research Manager Fraser Allen, it seems likely that Oxitec’s claim that its program had led to a “62 percent suppression rate” of the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti population in the West Bay pilot area would have gone unchallenged by government officials.
Genetically modified mosquitoes in Cayman swat wild population
Genetically modified mosquitoes have made a significant impact in reducing wild populations of the disease-spreading insects in the West Bay release area.
GM mosquitoes making an impact in West Bay
The release of some 8 million genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay has had a significant impact in reducing populations of the disease-spreading insects in the targeted area, researchers say. Preliminary data from the MRCU shows that the GM males are successfully mating with females in the wild.
Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes starting to show impact
Researchers studying the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay say they are starting to see the gene show up in mosquito larvae, meaning those mosquitoes likely will not survive to adulthood.
Premier: Opposition to GM mosquito release political grandstanding
Premier Alden McLaughlin, in a press statement Tuesday, criticized opponents of the genetically modified mosquito program, as the Public Health Department confirmed Cayman’s first local cases of Zika.
Thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes released
Thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes were released in West Bay on Thursday, kicking off what the Mosquito Research and Control Unit and collaborator Oxitec call their “Friendly Aedes aegypti project.”
Mosquito release halted by legal challenge
The planned release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay, scheduled to begin Thursday morning, has been halted after a judge granted...
UPDATE – Legal action pauses GM mosquito release
Opponents of the planned release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay are taking legal action in an effort to halt the operation, which is scheduled to begin Thursday.
Inside the mosquito ‘factory’
Ahead of the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay, scheduled to begin Thursday, the Mosquito Research and Control Unit and U.K. biotech firm Oxitec invited members of the media for an inside look of the new lab, where half a million male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are being bred.
GM mosquitoes to be released next week
The release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay is to begin next week, government announced Thursday.
