Update (September 18): Scientific Reports has issued an editor’s note, stating that “the conclusions of this paper are subject to criticisms that are being considered by editors.” In a statement sent to The Scientist, Oxitec says it takes issues with a number of conclusions the authors made in their report. Among them, “The authors infer that Oxitec’s self-limiting genes persist in the environment. Yet as confirmed by their own data, multiple other scientific studies and regulatory filings, this is not the case. Oxitec’s self-limiting genes do not establish or spread in the environment.” The journal’s note states that it will issue another response once the issues are resolved.
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A field experiment in Brazil that deployed genetically modified mosquitoes to control wild populations of the pest may be having unintended consequences. According to a genetic analysis of mosquitoes in the area, it appears the engineered stock has ...
