Internationallaw shouldgovernrelease ofGMmosquitoes
SIR—YourNewsstory‘Sterile mosquitoesneartake-off’(Nature
453,435;2008)discusses
thelikelyreleaseofgenetically engineeredmosquitoesto
help containdenguefever.It demonstratesjusthowclose wearetoaradicallynewsetof
strategiesformanagingawhole rangeofdiseasesandwildlife usinggenetically
modifiedorganisms (GMOs).Butafter assessingtherisks andbenefits,nations mayreachdifferent conclusionsabout theiruse.Andthat’s quiteaproblem, consideringthat geneticallymodified
bugswon’trecognizenational borders.
Malaysiamaysuccessfully avoidspreadingthesterile mosquitoesacrosstheborder, andeveniftheydocross,any transgressionwillbelimitedto
politics,andappropriatelyso. Thepotentialforconflictover self-dispersingGMOsdemands
theattentionofinternationallaw. Unfortunately,thatlawis
BiologicalStation,CSIC,Apdo.153,
41080Sevilla,Spain
BenGilnaDepartmentofGeography, UniversityofHull,HullHU67RX,UK
housesbasedinFirstWorld countries.Atpresent,open- accesspublicationmaybehard forthoseinthedevelopingworld toafford,butinthelongrunitwill beadvantageous,offeringthem freeaccesstoeducationaland academicresources.
Mostimportant,thefutureof openaccessprobablydoesnot lieinjournalpublishingmodels. Thehugesuccessofonline
literaturedatabasessuchasarXiv ( andaccess,issignificant.Such databasescurrentlyhostmostly non-peer-reviewedpreprints,
andsoareoflittlevaluefor careerbuilding.Butacademic organizationsthroughoutthe worldcould,iftheywished, buildanequivalentarchiveof peer-reviewedpapers.
IalsodisagreewithGadagkar’s view:“IfImustchoosebetween publishingorreading,Iwould choosetopublish".Noonecan expecttodoseriousscience withoutaccesstothecurrent academicliterature.
Althoughmanysubscription journalsarefreetoaccessonline indevelopingcountries through
asinglelifespan.Strategiesthat
deficient.Themostrelevanttreaty
theHINARI,AGORA andOARE
relyongeneticallymodifying mosquitoesthatcanstill reproduce,suchasthosethatyou mentionarebeingengineeredby AustinBurt’steamformalaria control,aremorelikelytohave lingeringeffectsastheyspread amongwildpopulationsacross nationalborders.
Althougheveryonewould agreethatdiseasesarebad, nationsmayhaveverydifferent viewsabouthowtheyshouldbe prevented.Effectivecontrolof mosquito-bornediseasewillnot
istheConventiononBiological Diversityanditsinstrument,the CartagenaProtocolonBiosafety. TheprotocolincludesMalaysia andmostofitsneighbours— Thailand,Indonesia,Cambodia andVietnam—butnotSingapore orAustralia.Itfallsfarshortof
theproactiveandinstructive approach necessaryforthe deploymentofGMOsdesignedto beself-dispersingand
reproducinginthewild. Theworldneedstoget
involved.Discussionsshould
Futureofopenaccess couldbeonlineand peer-reviewed
SIR—RaghavendraGadagkar (Nature453,450;2008)argues thattheopen-access‘payto publishandreadforfree’model leadstoadisadvantagefor scientistsindevelopingcountries. Idisagree.Gadagkarcorrectly states:“pagechargesmaybe waivedforauthorswhocannot affordtopay.”Hethenadds:“a
initiativesoftheUnitedNations, theprincipleremainsthatifyou cannotaffordtoread,you automaticallycannotafford
topublish.PerhapsGadagkar willagreenexttimeheis
deniedaccesstoafundamental paperforhisresearchbecause hisinstitutiondoesnot subscribetoit.
MassimoSandalDepartmentof
BiochemistryG.Moruzzi,
UniversityofBologna,ViaIrnerio48,
40126Bologna,Italy
beachievedwithoutregionally
beformalized,ideallyunderthe
modelthatdependsonpayment
coordinatedprogrammes,soa robustframeworkisneededto accommodatethedifferences (B.G.J.Knolsetal.Am. J.Trop. Med.Hyg.77,232–242;2007).
Nationshavearighttodecide thetechnologicalriskstowhich theyexposethemselves.The factorsindecision-makinghere willnotbeonlythesimpleones ofuncontestedscience—thisis
biodiversityconvention,and widelyaccessible(forexample, throughtheconvention’s BiosafetyClearingHouse).
Thistrialwouldsetthetonefor futurenegotiationsoverthisvery newkindofbiotechnology.
ElenaAnguloLaboratoireEcologie, SystématiqueetEvolution,UMRCNRS
8079,UniversitéParisSud,91405
OrsayCedex,France,andDoñana
byauthorscanaffordonlyafew suchwaivers.” Thisisnot necessarilytrue:forexample, someopen-accessjournals providediscountstoparticular institutions.
Iwouldprefertoseewhatlittle moneyisavailabletoadeveloping countryspentonhelpingto publishtheirscientists’papers ratherthanfinancingpublishing
Genetictestingmust recognizeimpactof badnewsonrecipient
SIR—YourSpecialReport
‘Genetictestingforeveryone’ (Nature453,570–571;2008) discussesthecontentiousissue ofbreakingthenewsabout
testresults.Ourexperience