title: Use of transgenicAedes aegyptiin Brazil: risk perception and assessment.
abstract: The OX513A strain ofAedes aegypti, which was developed by the British company Oxitec, expresses a self-limiting transgene that prevents larvae from developing to adulthood. In April 2014, the Brazilian National Technical Commission on Biosafety completed a risk assessment of OX513A and concluded that the strain did not present new biological risks to humans or the environment and could be released in Brazil. At that point, Brazil became the first country to approve the unconstrained release of a genetically modified mosquito. During the assessment, the commission produced a comprehensive list of - and systematically analysed - the perceived hazards. Such hazards included the potential survival to adulthood of immature stages carrying the transgene - should the transgene fail to be expressed or be turned off by exposure to sufficient environmental tetracycline. Other perceived hazards included the potential allergenicity and/or toxicity of the proteins expressed by the gene, the potential for gene flow or increased transmission of human pathogens and the occupation of vacant breeding sites by other vector species. The Zika epidemic both elevated the perceived importance ofAe. aegyptias a vector - among policy-makers and regulators as well as the general public - and increased concerns over the release of males of the OX513A strain. We have therefore reassessed the potential hazards. We found that release of the transgenic mosquitoes would still be both safe and of great potential value in the control of diseases spread byAe. aegypti,such as chikungunya, dengue and Zika.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Moraes Rego s/s, 50670-901, Recife, Brazil .
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paes de Andrade
authors.affiliation: Embrapa, Brasília, Brazil .
authors.forename: Francisco José Lima
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Aragão
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil .
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Colli
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil .
authors.forename: Odir Antônio
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Dellagostin
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil .
authors.forename: Flávio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Finardi-Filho
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil .
authors.forename: Mario Hiroyuki
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.affiliation: Instituto Agronômico de Pernambuco - IPA, Recife, Brazil .
authors.forename: Amaro de Castro
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lira-Neto
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Patos, Brazil .
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Almeida de Melo
authors.affiliation: Embrapa, Brasília, Brazil .
authors.forename: Alexandre Lima
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Nepomuceno
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil .
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gorgônio da Nóbrega
authors.affiliation: Faculdade Anhanguera, Brasília, Brazil .
authors.forename: Gutemberg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delfino de Sousa
authors.affiliation: Embrapa, Brasília, Brazil .
authors.forename: Fernando Hercos
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Valicente
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil .
authors.forename: Maria Helena Bodanese
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zanettini
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000254:growth & development*; D001938:Brazil; D003264:Containment of Biohazards; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D010571:Pest Control / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D019076:Transgenes