Guidance framework for testing of genetically modified mosquitoes

Reproduced in accordance with the publishers guidelines "The use of content from this health information product for all non-commercial education, training and information purposes is encouraged".Commissioned by TDR and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), this framework was drafted by four different working groups (efficacy; safety; ethical, legal and social; and regulation), each of which received comments about their draft from experts in the field and the public. Genetically modified mosquitoes (GMM) engineered to be incapable of transmitting certain pathogens or able to reduce populations of similar native mosquito vectors have emerged as a promising new tool to combat vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue in the more than 100 countries where they’re endemic. The guidance framework aims to foster quality and consistency among processes for testing and regulating new genetic technologies by proposing standards of efficacy and safety testing comparable to those used for trials of other new public health tools. The framework does not represent the views of the World Health Organization (WHO) or FNIH or provide recommendations on what to do. Rather, it is a document that brings together what is known, based on current research evidence, about how best to evaluate GMM