Environmental Risk Assessment of Gene Drives

Objective

According to the World Health Organization’s 2017 World Malaria Report, an estimated 216 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide in 2016, with 90% of this total concentrated in the African region. Alarmingly, and despite an increased public health focus on the elimination of malaria, it is becoming clear that many countries will not be able to achieve this goal without considering novel management approaches. One control strategy in the early stages of development is the use of gene drive mechanisms to suppress or replace vector mosquito populations.

Collaborators & Partners

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), and the Government of Australia

Current Work

Mosquito Biology

Understanding vector biology is an important component of any disease management strategy and will be essential for assessing potential environmental risks that may be associated with the deployment of genetically engineered mosquitos. To that end, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute and representatives from the governments of Brazil and Mexico served as convening lead authors of the OECD’s first biology document for an insect species, Aedes aeqypti, which was published in 2018. With the success of this first effort, a second mosquito biology document, describing Anopheles gambiae, is now underway. First proposed to the OECD by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute was very pleased to be asked to co-lead the drafting group with NEPAD and the Government of Australia. With funding from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute partnered with the OECD to convene a workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on March 14-15, 2019 that brought Anopheles experts together to advance the biology document.

Consultations on Problem Formulation for ERA of Gene Drive Mosquitoes

Between October 2016 and February 2018, NEPAD organized four regional consultations on the potential use of gene drives to combat malaria transmission through vector suppression. At the request of NEPAD, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute assisted in setting the agenda for the scientific programs and guided participants through a problem formulation exercise to inform future work on risk assessment. These consultations served as an introduction to the basic principles of environmental risk assessment, as well as provided a critical opportunity to hear from regional risk assessors and stakeholders regarding potential risks that may be associated with deploying gene drive technology for this purpose. Together with NEPAD and FNIH, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute is summarizing the outcomes of the four regional consultations in a manuscript that will be submitted for publication in 2019.

Resources

Events

West Africa Consultative Meeting on Gene Drive Technology

Accra, Ghana

October 16, 2016 - October 19, 2016

The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) organized a regional consultation that examined the basic principles of environmental risk assessment. NEPAD requested that the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute assist them in setting the agenda for the scientific program.

Reston, VA, United States

May 25, 2016 - May 27, 2016

The Agriculture & Food Systems Institute co-organized a workshop with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health that examined the basic principles of environmental risk assessment, the process of how environmental protection goals are translated into operation endpoints for risk assessment (“problem formulation”), and the application of this process to the use of gene drives for either population modification or population suppression in mosquito vectors.

Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species

Teem JL, Alphey L, Descamps S et al.

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology | May 25, 2020

This publication provides an overview of the state of genetic biocontrol, focusing on several approaches that were the subject of presentations at the Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species Workshop, which was sponsored by the OECD’s Co-operative Research Program on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems.

Teem JL, Ambali A, Glover B et al.

Malaria Journal | October 15, 2019

This summary publication captures the findings from four African consultations organized by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to identify risk hypotheses and data needs for future environmental risk assessment of gene drives in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

OECD Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology

Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms in the Environment (Volume 8) | June 23, 2018

Volume 8 of the series Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms in the Environment contains the first OECD biosafety consensus document to deal with the biology of an insect, the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Roberts A, Paes de Andrade P, Okumu F, Quemada H, Savadogo M, Singh JA, James S

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | November 29, 2016

Reducing the incidence of malaria has been a public health priority for nearly a century. However, before new technologies and associated vector control strategies can be developed and exploited, it will be necessary to understand and assess the likelihood of any potential harms to humans or the environment. To begin this process, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute organized an expert workshop to consider the potential risks related to the use of gene drives in Anopheles gambiae for malaria control in Africa.