kingdom 2002 2002 key people hadyn parry ceo 1 luke alphey founder parent intrexon corporation dna.com website oxitec.com oxitec orig . oxford insect technologies is a british biotechnology company which develops genetically modified insects to assist in insect control . the company develops methods for control of insect populations in which genetically modified insects are used as a living insecticide . thereby insects which transmit disease to humans or which occur as pests in agriculture are controlled without the use of insecticides . according to the company this method of population control is more effective than insecticides and more environmentally friendly . 2 the method has similarities to sterile insect technique . contents 1 history 2 transgenic yellow fever mosquito 3 field trials 4 authorization 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit oxitec was started in 2002 by oxford university s isis innovation technology transfer company . 1 3 in august 2015 oxitec was purchased by u.s. based intrexon corp in a deal valued at 160 million . 4 transgenic yellow fever mosquito edit oxitec is working to develop a genetically modified version of aedes aegypti to help control the transmission of mosquito borne diseases . 5 6 oxitec has created genetically altered males of the species ox513a that produce the protein tta which negatively affects cell development . the transgenic animals need the antibiotic tetracycline to survive . if these animals are released in large numbers and mate with females the antibiotic dependence is passed to the next generation and the offspring die . thus the aedes aegypti mosquito population is greatly reduced and thereby the risk for the people in that region to contract a disease borne by that mosquito species . 7 8 field trials edit first field trials were performed on grand cayman the largest island of the cayman islands supported by the bill and melinda gates foundation starting in 2009 . approximately 3.3 million of the transgenic male aedes aegypti mosquitoes were released . the experiments demonstrated that the animals were able to survive in this environment and produce offspring . some eleven weeks after the release a decline in the aedes aegypti mosquito population by about 80 % was observed . larger scale releases could possibly result in even higher reductions . the tests were deemed a success by scientists at the same time criticism on the communication policy has been voiced . 9 in may 2016 grand cayman announced a program to use oxitec mosquitoes to combat the virus . the first phase will inform the community about the programme . the next phase will treat an area with about 1 800 residents in west bay and comparing it with an equivalent untreated area . if all goes well the project will expand across the island . 10 in 2011 another field test took place in brazil in cooperation with the company moscamed and the university of s o paulo in which again transgenic aedes aegypti mosquitoes were released in large numbers and the mosquitoes were reduced by 80 95 % . 11 12 more field trials were carried out in malaysia and panama . 13 14 another field trial is planned in florida . 15 in 2016 the world health organisation encouraged field trials of transgenic male aedes aegypti mosquitoes to try to halt the spread of the zika virus . 16 authorization edit ox513a was approved by the brazil s national biosecurity technical commission ctnbio in april 2014 17 and it was being used to try to combat the zika virus in the town of piracicaba s o paulo in 2016 . 18 brazil s health regulatory agency anvisa declared on 12 april 2016 that it would regulate oxitec s mosquitoes . anvisa announced that it was creating a legal framework for regulations . it requested oxitec to demonstrate that its technology is safe and can reduce the transmission of mosquito borne viruses . 19 see also edit genetically modified organism sterile insect technique references edit a b cookson clive 23 april 2015 . lethal gene to combat malaria relies on laws of attraction . financial times . retrieved 22 may 2015 . the oxitec approach . oxitech solon olivia 25 april 2012 . oxford academics tentatively embrace startup culture . wired uk . retrieved 22 may 2015 . nickel rod 15 september 2015 . market turbulence or not north american investors plow into farm tech . reuters . retrieved 9 october 2015 . free stephen 16 may 2015 . can genetically modified mosquitoes curb dengue fever . pbs newshour . retrieved 22 may 2015 . jennings christian 28 april 2015 . mosquitoes really do prefer some people to others say scientists . newsweek . retrieved 22 may 2015 . subbaraman nidhi 2011 01 01 . science snipes at oxitec transgenic mosquito trial . nature biotechnology . 29 1 9 11 . doi 10.1038 nbt0111 9a . issn 1087 0156 . julia paoli genetically modified mosquitoes pave the way for dengue fever prevention nature publishing group 15 september 2014 nidhi subbaraman science snipes at oxitec transgenic mosquito trial . in nature biotechnology 29 2011 s. 9 11 . press release grand cayman will use oxitec solution to suppress wild aedes aegypti the dangerous mosquito that spreads dengue zika and chikungunya in an effort to help eliminate these diseases oxitec . www.oxitec.com . retrieved 2016 05 07 . carvalho danilo ; et al. 2 july 2015 . suppression of a field population of aedes aegypti in brazil by sustained release of transgenic male mosquitoes . plos . doi 10.1371 journal.pntd .0003864 . michael specter can genetic modification eliminate a deadly tropical disease the new yorker 9 july 2012 oxitec s genetically modified mosquitoes a credible approach to dengue fever pdf . march 2015 . panama trial begins . preliminary finding of no significant impact fonsi in support of an investigational field trial of ox513a aedes aegypti mosquitoes pdf . us fda . march 2016 . retrieved 14 march 2016 . kelland kate 18 march 2016 . who backs trials of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight zika . the globe and mail . retrieved 19 march 2016 . tracy thompson oxitec s solution for controlling the dengue mosquito is approved by ctnbio . oxitech 11 april 2014 pollack andrew 30 january 2016 . new weapon to fight zika the mosquito . new york times . retrieved 16 march 2016 . lopes reinaldo jose 22 april 2016 . why transgenic insects are still not ready for prime time . nature news & comment . retrieved 2016 04 22 . external links edit official website this corporation or company article is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title oxitec & oldid 741922005 categories biotechnology companies of the united kingdominsect borne diseasespest controlcompany stubshidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipediaall stub articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch edit links this page was last modified on 30 september 2016 at 14 31 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view