Males GM of 'Aedes' will serve 18 months in Juazeiro
Ligia Formenti - O Estado de S. Paulo
the streets of the neighborhood land Itaberaba, in Juazeiro (BA), a car with two researchers for each 100 meters. One down and uncovers a pot from where about 500 aeypti Aedes mosquitoes, the transmitter of dengue. The scene repeated for three weeks and, until July, is expected to be released 33,000 males per week. Then the action will increase to 50 thousand to 100 thousand mosquitoes a week.
Celso Junior / AE
C OMBATING. Transgenic males must compete for females with wild specimens and produce offspring that die early
The "spray" of mosquitoes was repeated 22 times on the afternoon of Thursday before last. The ritual is part of a scientific project that creates expectations in the public health. "If you give the expected result, we can reduce more significantly the numbers of dengue ", said the project coordinator, Daniel Carvalho.
" There is no doubt that the project is promising, "said the director of the Industrial Complex and Innovation in the Health Ministry of Health, Zichy Moyses.
The key to these hopes the mosquito is released into the environment: it is a transgenic species that produces offspring who die before reaching adulthood, when they can transmit dengue. In practice, science sponsors sex between mosquitoes that generate offspring incapable of spreading the disease. The ideal is that there are ten transgenic males for every wild male.
The strategy is similar to that used in other parts the country to combat Drosophila, the fruit fly, sterile males are released to compete with wild species the opportunity to cross. To get the male sterile laboratory, he is exposed to radiation - which is not achieved by the Aedes aegypti. "So we used the transgenic technique," says project coordinator, Margareth Capurro, a biologist at the University of São Paulo.
Developed at the University of Oxford, transgenic mosquitoes carry genetic material from Drosophila. In the laboratory, are fed with fish and adult female blood. At the stage of eggs, all receive tetracycline, which allows complete the cycle of life - which does not occur in the environment.
females, the ones that bite humans and transmit the dengue virus are in the laboratory for new crossings. To avoid risk of being released, two are adopted security measures. The first separation occurs in a tunnel slide, funnel-shaped. Because females are larger, do not exceed a certain range of descent. There is another separation process, developed by Oxitec, business incubator at the University of Oxford. "Later, we made a quality control with magnifying glasses and microscopes," explains Andrew McKeney, Oxitec coach who is in Brazil to monitor the search.
Five neighborhoods. Released by the National Technical Commission on Biosafety in December, field work began in February. In the first phase, we made minor releases, to evaluate the behavior of mosquitoes in a lab environment. We checked the distance that the mosquito was able to travel and their ability to survive.
experience occurs for 18 months in five districts of Juazeiro. The choice of location, says Margaret, was facilitated by the proximity to Biofactory Moscamed, an organization linked to the Ministry of Agriculture that was producing sterile flies.
Source: www.estadao.com.br
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