Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms in the Environment, Volume 8

Book excerpt: Volume 8 of the Series contains the first biosafety 'consensus document' to deal with the biology of an insect, the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Issued by the OECD Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology, the science-based consensus documents collate information for use during the regulatory risk assessment of biotechnology products, i.e. transgenic organisms (plants, animals, micro-organisms) when intended for release in the environment. Ae. aegypti mosquito is vectoring yellow fever, dengue, Zika and Chikungunya diseases in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. Biotechnological applications are developed to control the mosquito population and reduce virus transmission. The book provides information on Ae. aegypti taxonomy, morphology, life cycle, reproductive biology, genetics, ecology, interactions with other species and the environment. The mosquito effects on human and animal health, and the control strategies/specific programmes to limit its development are also summarised.