Ethical, legal and social issues of genetically modifying insect vectors for public health

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Abstract

The use of genetically modified (GM) insects for control of human disease can be consistent with common ethical norms of international society to reduce human suffering. This paper considers a range of ethical issues including animal rights, informed consent, community consensus and environmental viewpoints. Each community needs to decide its own priorities for methodology of disease policy guidance for ethical genetic engineering, and to negotiate with neighbouring countries. The approach to genetically modify insects raises few intrinsic ethical issues; however, important environmental and human health concerns need to be assessed before release of any GM insects. The policy that each community adopts should be the product of open dialogue involving all sectors of society. It can be expected that this process will take years and not all communities will endorse genetic control approaches to insect vectors.

Section snippets

The ethics of disease prevention

There is global support for the efforts to improve existing and develop new approaches for preventing, diagnosing, treating and controlling infectious diseases that cause loss of human life (Macer, 2003). The ethical principle that lies behind the idea of preventing, treating and controlling disease is that human life is something worth saving. There is however considerable ethical debate over the most ethical measures for achieving these goals, including the extent to which risks to human

Bioethics and molecular entomology

This paper examines some philosophical issues over the use of genetic engineering on insects for public health purposes. There is a long history of altering the behaviour of disease vectors so that they cannot transmit pathogens to humans (Spielman and D’Antonio, 2001). Insects have also long been the targets of attention in agriculture as well as in medicine. While there are few intrinsic ethical concerns about killing insect pests, as discussed below, ecocentric approaches to ethics do raise

Intrinsic ethical issues of genetic engineering

The conclusions of studies of ethical issues inherent to the process of genetic engineering compared to traditional methods of animal and plant breeding, are that the only significant differences in the process are the more precise control of genetic engineering and whether the DNA involves cross-species gene transfer that does not occur in nature (Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 1999a; Comstock, 2000; Macer, 2003). One of the key questions is whether there is an intrinsic value of genetic

Animal rights concerns

Another concern in ethics when discussing animals is their capacity to suffer or feel pain. If insects do not feel pain or sense feelings, then the most prevalent ethical approach for animals would argue that there is nothing intrinsically wrong in manipulating them (Singer, 1976). However, if we consider the idea of making so-called vegemals, animals that do not feel pain, we are still manipulating life for human purposes without considering the interests of the animal (Macer, 1989). The

Consent from trial participants

Recognition of the ethical principle of autonomy means that all participants need to give informed consent to an intervention that has a reasonable risk of causing harm (Annas, 1989). There are significant difficulties in obtaining individual informed consent in some developing countries (Ekunwe and Kessel, 1984; Angell, 2000; Alvarez-Castillo, 2002), but by adequate investment of time and provision of suitable materials, it should be possible to obtain informed consent from individuals at

Environmental risks and public consensus

The human community also needs to consent to the environmental risks of a trial as these represent potential harm to other members of the biological community as well as other members of the human community. Globally people vary in the importance they ascribe to the environment, or parts of it. Especially in areas where more traditional world views are found, we may see greater value given to parts of the environment that are forgotten in the modern industrial mindset (Table 1). We also see

Ethics of technology choices

Issues include the ethics behind research into, and later financing of, technological products that attempt to “fix” a problem rather than invest in increasing the ecological knowledge base to “prevent” the problem. There is considerable preference for deterministic science over “softer” educational systems like flexible learning. It is clear that not all local communities will share the modern scientific world view that technical healing is better for them, so there needs to be flexibility in

Regulation

The internationally accepted principles of risk assessment for GMOs take into account: relevant technical and scientific details of the recipient or parental organism, the donor organism(s), the vector, the insert(s) and/or characteristics of modification, the GMO, and the methods for detection and identification of the GMO including specificity, sensitivity and reliability; as well as information relating to intended use, information on location and geographical, climatic and ecological

Conclusion

There are a variety of ethical issues that are raised from the use of GM insects (Table 1), but the most challenging may be the process of informed consent for individuals and communities. Each community or society needs to be given a chance to set consensus values on risk assessment. A universal minimal standard of risk assessment applicable to disease vectors needs to be defined, as diseases cross national and continental borders.

Before field release of transgenic insects, researchers must

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