Oxitec Sendirian Berhad, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e42771. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042771. Epub 2012 Aug 27.
Dengue is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease. In the absence of specific drugs or vaccines, control focuses on suppressing the principal mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti, yet current methods have not proven adequate to control the disease. New methods are therefore urgently needed, for example genetics-based sterile-male-release methods. However, this requires that lab-reared, modified mosquitoes be able to survive and disperse adequately in the field.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Adult male mosquitoes were released into an uninhabited forested area of Pahang, Malaysia. Their survival and dispersal was assessed by use of a network of traps. Two strains were used, an engineered 'genetically sterile' (OX513A) and a wild-type laboratory strain, to give both absolute and relative data about the performance of the modified mosquitoes. The two strains had similar maximum dispersal distances (220 m), but mean distance travelled of the OX513A strain was lower (52 vs. 100 m). Life expectancy was similar (2.0 vs. 2.2 days). Recapture rates were high for both strains, possibly because of the uninhabited nature of the site.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: After extensive contained studies and regulatory scrutiny, a field release of engineered mosquitoes was safely and successfully conducted in Malaysia. The engineered strain showed similar field longevity to an unmodified counterpart, though in this setting dispersal was reduced relative to the unmodified strain. These data are encouraging for the future testing and implementation of genetic control strategies and will help guide future field use of this and other engineered strains.
登革热是最重要的蚊媒病毒性疾病。由于缺乏特效药物和疫苗，控制工作的重点在于抑制主要媒介埃及伊蚊，但目前的方法尚未被证明足以控制这种疾病。因此，急需采用新的方法，例如基于遗传学的不育雄蚊释放方法。然而，这需要实验室饲养的、经过改良的蚊子能够在野外充分生存和扩散。
方法/主要发现：成年雄性蚊子被释放到马来西亚彭亨州一个无人居住的森林地区。利用一系列诱捕器来评估它们的生存和扩散情况。使用了两种品系，一种是经过工程改造的“遗传不育”（OX513A），另一种是野生型实验室品系，以提供有关改良蚊子性能的绝对和相对数据。两种品系的最大扩散距离相似（220 米），但 OX513A 品系的平均移动距离较低（52 米对 100 米）。预期寿命相似（2.0 天对 2.2 天）。两种品系的回收捕获率都很高，这可能是由于该地点无人居住的性质。
结论/意义：经过广泛的受控研究和监管审查，马来西亚安全且成功地进行了工程蚊子的野外释放。与未经修饰的对照品系相比，工程菌株在野外的寿命相似，但在这种环境下，其扩散能力相对较低。这些数据为未来遗传控制策略的测试和实施提供了令人鼓舞的结果，并将有助于指导未来对这种和其他工程菌株的野外使用。
