Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population

has been speculated to have been due to mating discrimination against OX513A males, a phenomenon known to occur in sterile male release programs The release strain, OX513A, was derived from a laboratory strain originally from Cuba, then outcrossed to a Mexican population7. The three populations forming the tri-hybrid population now in Jacobina (Cuba/Mexico/Brazil) are genetically quite distinct (Extended Data Fig. E2), very likely resulting in a more robust population than the pre-release population due to hybrid vigor. These results demonstrate the importance of having in place a genetic monitoring program during releases of transgenic organisms to detect un-anticipated consequences."

has to be included. It's the same story for everything. It's going to take a really, really long time before human genetic engineering can hope to beat evolution on its own turf. By a rough estimate, at any second on Earth there's close to 2^105 ribosomes manufacturing proteins from RNA, only once simulation capabilities start to come close genetically engineered organisms start to become a systemic risk. Funny story that confirms this view: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6 >However, it is clear from the data in Garziera et al.6 that the effectiveness of the release program began to break down after about 18 months, i.e., the population which had been greatly suppressed rebounded to nearly pre-release levels. Ultimately, it was just a fun, harmless experiment, and as a bonus anyone arrogant enough to expect current human genetic engineering to beat evolution got a lesson in humility.

ended up rebounding from near extermination to near pre-release numbers. That is evolution in fast forward due to a rapid reproduction rate, but even on a generational level this would have been an extremely rapid evolutionary adaptation. And the same applies to humans. A seemingly ever larger number of things have major genetic factors -- alcoholism being one we've known about for quite some time. Alcoholics are less likely to live to successfully reproduce, and even when producing may produce defective offspring as a result of their alcoholism. So it creates an evolutionary imperative against susceptibility to alcoholism. [1] - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6

offspring. The first observation is concerning because this means that this technique might only work in the short-term. This is probably not a silver bullet to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases. The second observation is probably much more worrying because it hints at unwanted side effects. We don't know yet the exact consequences of having these hybrid strains roaming free in nature. The most likely explanation however is that since they are weaker, they'll be progressively selected out and disappear. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6.pdf

been due to mating discrimination against OX513A males, a phenomenon known to occur in sterile male release programs The release strain, OX513A, was derived from a laboratory strain originally from Cuba, then outcrossed to a Mexican population7. The three populations forming the tri-hybrid population now in Jacobina (Cuba/Mexico/Brazil) are genetically quite distinct (Extended Data Fig. E2), very likely resulting in a more robust population than the pre-release population due to hybrid vigor. These results demonstrate the importance of having in place a genetic monitoring program during releases of transgenic organisms to detect un-anticipated consequences."