Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms in the Environment, Volume 8
OECD Consensus Document of the Biology of Mosquito Aedes aegypti
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.
Introduction to the biosafety consensus documents
The OECD’s Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology (the “WG-HROB”) comprises delegates from the 35 member countries of the OECD and the European Commission. Typically, delegates are from those government ministries and agencies which have responsibility for the environmental risk/safety assessment of products of modern biotechnology. The WG-HROB also includes a number of observer delegations and invited experts who participate in its work, such as Argentina, the Russian Federation, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC).