Sierra Club Statement on Zika and the Use of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
Many environmentalists have an automatic, negative, knee-jerk response to the
deployment of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). This is largely in response to the potential risks of GMO food organisms. When it comes to GMO mosquitoes, the case is far from clear cut. We need to carefully evaluate the potential risks versus benefits particularly in the case of Zika transmission via Aedes aegyptae that have spread through South America and are poised to invade Florida.
The Club’s Pest-management policy states “...Use of toxic or biologically active substances or genetically altered organisms should be tightly regulated to prevent harm to people and natural and agricultural-silvicultural ecosystems. Likewise, our Agriculture and Food and Biotechnology policies state our unequivocal opposition to any release of GM organisms into the environment. The situation we are facing with the spread of Zika here in Florida is very complex, however, and our response has to consider many competing factors.
Exceptions to Guidelines
The Sierra Club has issued guidelines covering fish and aquatic life. Amphibians and other life forms that are aquatic during part of their life cycle are considered aquatic. It is recognized that there may be difficulties in deciding whether some organisms such as a mosquito are to be considered aquatic. The larva is clearly aquatic, but the adult is airborne. In such instances, the general principles of precaution, scientific evaluation of ecological and health risks, and ongoing surveillance will apply regardless of whether the GMO is aquatic or not. On a case-by-case basis, some exceptions to our broad policy may become acceptable. Considering the release of GMO sterile mosquitoes as a means of malaria control or Zika control would be an example. However, that will not mean that these guidelines are any less relevant to decision-making regarding any and all future releases.
We welcome additional research and development of non-GMO, non-toxic natural alternatives to combating the Zika virus. For example, "Sterile Insect Technique” (SIT) trials using the Wolbachia bacterium might provide another option that communities could use in place of GMO mosquitoes if EPA evaluation finds the technique safe and effective. However, Sierra Club recognizes that action is needed now using the best available techniques that are reasonably safe for the environment, which, at the moment, appear to include the use of genetically-modified sterile mosquitoes in Zika-infected areas of Florida.
Focus on Miami-area
South Miami Mayor Phil Stoddard, a FIU biology professor who helped win a ban on the use of Naled and other insecticides that kill butterflies and bees in his city last year, has been urging local officials to use these mosquitoes. He met with county health staff and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado to help explain how the technology works.
“I’m not a GMO fan just for the record. But this is one of the GMO technologies that is a really good one,” he said. “I would really like the county to do exactly what Pinellas County is doing. We should have done this months ago.”
In the Keys, Oxitec has faced fierce opposition to the mosquitoes from some residents who worry the bugs will alter the natural environment. The mosquitoes are bred to include a genetic off-switch that kills their offspring without exposure to tetracycline, a common antibiotic not found in the wild. When male Oxitec mosquitoes breed with wild females, their offspring carry the gene and quickly die without tetracycline. The invasive Aedes aegypti only mate with their own kind, so no native marsh mosquitoes would be affected, preserving the natural food chain, Oxitec officials say.
“There is nothing in the environment that really feeds on it,” said Derric Nimmo, head of research for Oxitec. “It’s not a keystone species.”
If federal officials were to approve emergency use, Austin said a lab constructed in the Keys in advance of the field study could be quickly ramped up to provide mosquitoes.
We need to follow the precautionary principle of minimal risk and carefully weigh the costs of a disease such as Zika versus that of the GMO mosquitoes.
By Stephen Mahoney
Conservation Chair, Miami Group
Posted 10.8.16
Adopted by the Sustainable Planet Strategy Team, February 20, 2001.
Read more here:
- GMO Mosquitos to combat the Zika virus
- CDC.gov - Zika virus
- CDC.gov - Integrated mosquito management
- FloridaHealth.gov - Zika virus