Genetic Control in Historical Perspective: The Legacy of India's Genetic Control of Mosquitoes Unit

In the early 1970s, a World Health Organization-initiated and United States-funded project released lab-reared mosquitoes outside New Delhi in the first large-scale field trials of the genetic control of mosquitoes. Despite partnering with the Indian Council of Medical Research and investing signifi...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Hastings Center report
Main Author: Wilbanks, Rebecca (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Wiley 2021
In: The Hastings Center report
Further subjects:B securitization of public health
B militarization of public health
B Bioethics
B genetic control
B democratic deliberation
B gene editing
B public deliberation
B vector-borne disease
B international development
B Cold War science
B postcolonial science
B genetic modification
B transnational / international research ethics
B science and colonialism
B history of public health
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:In the early 1970s, a World Health Organization-initiated and United States-funded project released lab-reared mosquitoes outside New Delhi in the first large-scale field trials of the genetic control of mosquitoes. Despite partnering with the Indian Council of Medical Research and investing significantly in outreach to local communities at the release sites, the project was embroiled in controversy and became an object of vehement debate within the Indian parliament and diplomatic contretemps between the United States and India. This early episode of genetic control research demonstrates how a scientific collaboration was entangled in geopolitics and shaped by the legacy of colonialism. This historical case study has implications for public deliberation in the present, pointing to the challenges of shared decision-making in the context of structural inequality, the way that a backdrop of military interest in a technology can impede trust, and the long-term consequences of projects that foster mistrust.
ISSN:1552-146X
Contains:Enthalten in: Hastings Center, The Hastings Center report
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1002/hast.1315