讓蚊子飛！首批轉(zhuǎn)基因蚊子將“襲擊”非洲村莊

非洲一個(gè)村莊嫌蚊子不夠多，近日居然放飛了一萬(wàn)只蚊子。其實(shí)，這一萬(wàn)只蚊子可不是普通蚊子，而是首批轉(zhuǎn)基因不育雄蚊，目標(biāo)是對(duì)抗瘧疾。此次放蚊還只是實(shí)驗(yàn)，真正厲害的“特種蚊”武器還在后頭呢。

A new front has been opened up in the battle against malaria with the release of the first ever genetically modified mosquitoes in Africa.

有史以來(lái)第一批轉(zhuǎn)基因蚊子將在非洲釋放，開辟了抗擊瘧疾的新戰(zhàn)線。

Some 10,000 sterile male mosquitoes will be released in Burkina Faso, a country at the front line of the war against the disease. Last year there were 9.8m cases of malaria here, resulting in almost 4,000 deaths.

約一萬(wàn)只不育雄蚊將在抗擊瘧疾的第一線——布基納法索釋放。去年這個(gè)國(guó)家發(fā)生了980萬(wàn)例瘧疾，造成近4000人喪生。

Malaria is the biggest killer of children under five in Africa and the most up-to-date figures show that there were 216 million malaria cases worldwide, and an estimated 445,000 malaria deaths.

瘧疾是非洲5歲以下兒童的最大殺手，最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，全世界發(fā)生的瘧疾病例有2.16億，預(yù)計(jì)導(dǎo)致的死亡人數(shù)大44.5萬(wàn)。

This is the first step in a program to dramatically reduce the mosquito population in the country, and hopefully beyond. The initial release of the mosquitoes will enable researchers to gather more data about the longevity and dispersal of the insects, as well as how they interact with the natural insect population.

這是該國(guó)計(jì)劃大幅減少蚊子數(shù)量并借此抗擊瘧疾項(xiàng)目的第一步。第一批釋放的蚊子將能幫助研究人員收集到有關(guān)蚊子壽命和分布的更多數(shù)據(jù)，以及它們同天然蚊子相互影響的情況。

Researchers also hope to gain operational experience and improve understanding of their work among regulators and locals.

研究人員還希望從中獲得操作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，增進(jìn)監(jiān)管部門和當(dāng)?shù)厝藢?duì)他們工作的理解。

"It’s a very important step for building knowledge and experience," said Delphine Thizy, director of stakeholder engagement for Target Malaria, the not-for-profit research consortium behind the project.

開展這一項(xiàng)目的非盈利研究聯(lián)合會(huì)“瞄準(zhǔn)瘧疾”的董事長(zhǎng)戴爾芬·蒂齊說(shuō)：“這是構(gòu)建知識(shí)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)非常重要的一步。”

"Although this tool will not have an impact on malaria, it’s an important part of the fight and a conservative way to learn more about genetically modified mosquitoes.”

“盡管這個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)基因工具對(duì)瘧疾不會(huì)有什么影響，但卻是抗瘧疾斗爭(zhēng)的重要一部分，也是獲知關(guān)于轉(zhuǎn)基因蚊子更多信息的一個(gè)保守方式。”

The insects will be released in Bana, a village in the western part of the country close to the scientists’ research laboratory. Once they have been set free researchers will closely monitor the mosquitoes for 10 days, and on a monthly basis for up to a year, and hope to demonstrate to regulators that they behave as expected.

這些蚊子將在該國(guó)西部一個(gè)名叫巴納的村莊釋放，放蚊地點(diǎn)臨近科學(xué)家的研究實(shí)驗(yàn)室。蚊子被釋放后，科學(xué)家將對(duì)其密切監(jiān)控10天，然后在接下來(lái)的一年里每月監(jiān)控一次，希望能向監(jiān)管部門呈現(xiàn)預(yù)期的結(jié)果。

The exact timing of the release depends on how quickly scientists can bring enough modified mosquitoes to adulthood, as well as local weather conditions.

釋放蚊子的準(zhǔn)確時(shí)間取決于科學(xué)家將足夠的轉(zhuǎn)基因蚊子培育成年的速度，以及當(dāng)?shù)氐奶鞖鈼l件。

The experiment is the first step in a three phased program to develop “gene drive” mosquitoes - a project that has received $70 million of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

這個(gè)培育“基因驅(qū)動(dòng)”蚊子的項(xiàng)目分為三個(gè)階段，這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)是第一步。該項(xiàng)目從比爾和梅琳達(dá)·蓋茨基金會(huì)獲得了7000萬(wàn)美元(4.8億元人民幣)的資助。

The eventual hope is that male mosquitoes, modified so that 90 percent of their offspring are also male, will be released in the region. This would dramatically reduce the overall population as well as reducing malaria incidence, as it is the female mosquitoes which transmit the disease.

該項(xiàng)目的最終目標(biāo)是在該地區(qū)釋放這種新型轉(zhuǎn)基因雄蚊，它們繁衍的后代90%為雄性。這將能大幅減少蚊子數(shù)量，并降低瘧疾發(fā)病率，因?yàn)閭鞑ク懠驳氖谴莆米印?/p>

"The beauty of this approach for malaria control is that it’s very cost efficient, as you don’t need to constantly release more mosquitoes,” said Ms Thizy. “But that is a long term aim.”

蒂齊女士說(shuō)：“這種控制瘧疾方法的精妙之處在于非常節(jié)省成本，因?yàn)槟悴恍枰掷m(xù)地放更多蚊子。不過(guò)這是一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期目標(biāo)。”

While Target Malaria have faced some skepticism about the approach within Burkina Faso, this has mainly been from farmers who are concerned about GM crops.

“瞄準(zhǔn)瘧疾”機(jī)構(gòu)的放蚊計(jì)劃在布基納法索國(guó)內(nèi)遭到了一些質(zhì)疑，這些質(zhì)疑聲主要來(lái)自擔(dān)心轉(zhuǎn)基因作物的農(nóng)民。

"We’ve had amazing support from the local community, and ahead of our regulatory application they gave us their approval in a local consultation”, said Ms Thizy.

蒂齊女士說(shuō)：“我們從當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)得到了大力支持，在向監(jiān)管部門提交申請(qǐng)之前，當(dāng)?shù)孛癖娋徒?jīng)過(guò)協(xié)商同意了。”

As for safety, the mosquitoes released at this stage have been confirmed to be no more dangerous than the natural population, and cannot pass modified genes on to humans.

至于安全方面，在本階段釋放的蚊子經(jīng)證實(shí)不會(huì)比天然蚊子更危險(xiǎn)，也不會(huì)把修改后的基因傳給人類。

"Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous species on earth, causing the highest number of deaths,” said Ms Thizy. “So of course this has risks. But genetically modified mosquitoes are no more risky than natural counterparts, and have no added toxicity.”

蒂齊女士說(shuō)：“蚊子是地球上最危險(xiǎn)的物種之一，導(dǎo)致的死亡人數(shù)最多。所以釋放蚊子當(dāng)然有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。但是轉(zhuǎn)基因蚊子并不比天然蚊子更危險(xiǎn)，也不會(huì)攜帶更多毒素。”