28.07.2009 | permalink
Experiments with genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes planned in India by a British company in a move to find a way to control dengue fever have taken sections of the scientific community by surprise. ”I am trying to get full details about what is going on,” V.M. Katoch, secretary in the Department of Health Research and chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said. [...] ”Two years ago Oxitec came to us for testing its technology but we said no,” said P. Jambulingam, director of VCRC. ”We also made it clear to them that India did not encourage this method for mosquito control. I do not know how the company managed to get permission from RCGM.” A.P.Dash, then director of the ICMR’s National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), says he rejected Oxitec’s proposal when RCGM sought his comments.