The promise of mutant insects

By Carolyn Duncan

OTTAWA — Insects in general are a hot topic for research – they may hold the key to disease control in tropical countries, crop successes or failures along with many other possibilities.

Genetically modified organisms are nothing new on the biotechnology front. The range of living things that could be changed through genetic modification is constantly growing.

Mosquitoes are insect vectors for malaria.

Dr. Thomas Miller at University of California Riverside Campus works with the pink bollworm, an insect known for its devastating damage to the U.S. cotton industry. It is present in many countries around the world.

Miller works to eradicate the bollworm through genetic modification. He is able to practise more than one method of genetically altering it. He can make it sterile using radiation, or can insert a gene that will make it die with more ease in natural environments.

Dr. Carl Lowenberger at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver works with mosquitoes to eventually try and eradicate malaria. He is trying to make the malaria parasite die while it is in a mosquito so that it will not infect humans. However, this method would require a lot more testing and paperwork due to the effect these genetically altered mosquitoes might have on a natural environment.

Dr. David O’Brochta at the University of Maryland also works with mosquitoes. He realizes that genetic modification of organisms is a very powerful tool. He suggests a major ethical concern surrounds GM insects — once a strong modified insect is released into the wild, there is no way to get it back.

“It’s not going to be a matter of just opening the window and letting them go…” he said.

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