The Flying Public Health Tool : genetically modified mosquitoes and malaria control

Beisel, Uli and Boete, Christophe (2013) The Flying Public Health Tool : genetically modified mosquitoes and malaria control. Science as Culture, 22 (1). pp. 38-60. ISSN 0950-5431

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Abstract

For many in the scientific world, technologies of genetic modification offer a promising method to control vector-born infectious diseases such as malaria. Nevertheless, the recent releases of the first genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes into the wild have triggered heated discussions. How is the human-mosquito relationship being reconfigured through the development of GM mosquitoes? The scientific modifications that make mosquitoes incapable of transmitting malaria and capable of generating profit have epistemic consequences for public health. GM mosquitoes have shifted malaria control in ways that might best be understood in terms of ‘transposition’ (Braidotti): the mosquito transforms from a disease-bringing agent to a benevolent public health tool. This transformation from vector to tool is technically elegant, but this elegance is also risky. As the history of malaria epidemics has shown mosquitoes travel long distances in hardly predictable patterns. Creating a GM mosquito then also means to surrender public health practices to the lines of flight of the mosquito itself.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Science as Culture
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/environmentalscience
Subjects:
?? genetically modified mosquitoesmalaria transposition uncertainty ecologypublic healthenvironmental sciencegeneral medicinemedicine(all)ge environmental sciences ??
ID Code:
59999
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
14 Nov 2012 11:11
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
16 Jul 2024 09:14