Bti cry proteins

[Heinrich Meurer]

Hi all

This is a geologist calling, who happens to be interested in Malaria prevention by vector control. Idea: use the Bt maize and associated safety research as a model to grow a plant (maize or switchgrass) which expresses larvicidal proteins encoded by cry genes from Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. This would allow to produce locally a dirt cheap and therefor sustainable biological larvicide which is safe, easy to handle and to store under tropical conditions. Local communities can then take for the first time ownership of fight against Malaria. This by applying simple agro technologies like drying plants and grinding them down to a powder of the mesh size of the larvae yaws…

There are certain more beneficial aspects to consider:

The protein will be capsulated inside lignin and therefor float for a long time in the feeding zone instead of sinking quickly to the bottom, as current formulations do.

For the same reason the protein will be protected from degrading UV radiation as opposed to current formulations which break down under UV making the protein useless. Preferred breeding ground for the most dangerous Malaria Mosquitoe Anopheles gambiae is clear sunlit still water which means a lot of sunshine.

As the plant derived protein will float, it could be coated (Glycerin) to make it “self-spreading” on the water reaching, otherwise inaccessible spots in breeding grounds. Of course helped by the occasional wind and current.

Of course one also needs a technology to map even the smallest breeding grounds in the jungle within a sanitation corridor around a village. That being worked on using small model planes and modified point and shoot cameras taking pics in the near infrared.

Does the above make any sense? And if yes could it be conceivable that DIY biologists take a part in it as an open science project?

Thank you very much for your time and patience. Please remember – I am a geologist and generally chip away on rocks!

Heinrich

[Mega [Andreas Stuermer]]

Hi! You would kill many other species as collateral damage - or breed resistant bugs? Can you make sure that other insects wouldn't be affected much?

[Heinrich Meurer]

Thanks Mega for your questions!

Hi Mega,

„you would kill many other species as collateral damage – or bread resistant bugs?“

I do not think so if the long safety record of Bt and Bti is considered. Bti is routinely used since decades for Mosquitoe nuisance control only in many first world countries. Hopefully unlikely to happen if it had off target effects worth considering. Probably safe enough for fish and other aquatic life forms and drinking water. A write up is to be found here: http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Pests/Mosquitoes/Bti. It should be considered that this is for nuisance control only. And not to protect infants and pregnant mothers from a tiny Mosquito carrying a deadly parasite. I do not consider the killing of other off target Mosquitoe larvae an unacceptable loss should it happen as that would happen only in a sanitation corridor around a settlement to be protected. Diameter of a sanitation corridor could perhaps be defined by twice the flight distance of the vector Mosquito plus a safety margin counting for the prevailing wind direction and strength.

Resistance by Mosquitoe larvae to Bti proteins apparently have not been observed despite its long history of application (“insecticidal bacteria: An overwhelming success for invertebrate pathology” Brian A. Federici; Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 89 - 2005)

“Can you make sure that other insects wouldn't be affected much?”

See above.

But I would considre it to be acceptable having the most beautiful singing birds starve to death if that safes the children of a community somewhere in the jungle from death or severe brain damage. Remenber that larviciding under this concept is going to happen only locally in a safety corridor. Not to be compared with DDT aerial space spraying of the old days.

What did I miss ?

Heinrich

[Mega [Andreas Stuermer]]

Ok, so if you know where the mosquito "wells" are - poisoning the well may be ok. 

Though I know from rivers in my countries (Ponds may be different) - there are zillions of insects in the ecosystem river. They would all be killed if you poison the well. Fish starve (-> humans), birds starve ...

[Heinrich Meurer]

Hi Mega

Knowing where the ponds are is a major aspect of the plot. The WHO is of the opinion, that larviciding makes sense only if breeding grounds are “few, fixed and findable”. That and the prohibitive costs, which relates back to their “few” are their worries. The typical breeding ground of the most dangerous and abundant Malaria vector Anopheles gambiae is sunlit clear still water. Could be rice fields, irrigation channels, watering holes, small ponds or an old oil barrel filled with rain water behind a hut. And during the rainy season any depression on the land surface.  Mosquitoes of importance regarding Malaria transmission do not appear to breed in running water or rivers. Of course it is hoped to make a huge dent into a local Mosquitoe population by killing as many larvae as possible with a safe biological larvicide. Even if that makes species dependent solely of the larvae as food source move out of the area to be protected from Malaria transmission. Totally acceptable I hope.

Heinrich

[GO]

I don't know much about malaria but  believe that GMO modified mosquitoes were recently released in the Florida Keys (? not sure, but I'll find the news of you need it) to combat Nile disease. The approach was to modify just males but when the breed with non-GMO females, offspring is non-viable. The good part is that one does not propagate GMO modified organism (GMO is a difficult thing for public to swallow) and they influence just that species. 

Also take a look at Gates Foundation, I think they have projects for combating Malaria.

Good luck!  

[Heinrich Meurer]

Hi Go

First of all, many thanks for your kind wishes!

Regarding GMO Mosquitoes the IAEA sort of pioneered that idea by sponsoring research which used radiation sources to sterilize male Mosquitoes with the idea that a mass release of sterilized Mosquitoes next to breeding grounds would prevent female Mosquitoes from flying about to find blood proteins for their egg development. Same approach apparently with GMO. Expect that GMO Mosquitoes are not radiation sick while following their instincts…

The problem could be to raise and push enough modified Mosquitoes into the environment to make a dent in the population. They would need to compete successfully with unmodified males for females when these hatch from the breeding grounds. So the right timing would also be a big issue.

GMO Mosquitoe release on a large scale does not appear in my mind to be a technology suitable for local ownership of rural communities.

Regarding Bill Gates and his foundation – he is doing absolutely great things with his initiative on the application of vaccines and the development of new ones – like for Malaria parasites. His role model is obviously the final eradication of Smallpox in India. However in Smallpox the only host for the two viruses is men, whereas Malaria parasites infecting men also feel comfortable in apes and there is a host of other Malaria parasites specialized in birds, reptiles and mammals. The research for Malaria vaccines is going on at least since 20 years. Without much success so far which could be partly because of a high genetic variability of the parasite.

We did submit a proposal along our line to the Bill Gates Foundation a few years ago without success. Involved US and Israel researchers. We did submit rather recently another proposal to MESA involving a German University and the national institute for plant safety. Also without success which is why I am trying the open science route now.

By the way – Bill Gates did apparently a very strange research project on Malaria when the star wars project was phased out involving the laser technology from that project and their scientists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser). That project reminds me of the Glomar Challenger build by Howard Hughes as the cover up for picking a Russian sub with nuclear torpedoes from the bottom of the sea.

[Cathal Garvey]

I think our endgame on malaria is not the extirpation of mosquitos,
(though we could probably do that if we cared enough and I don't think
they're an ecological "keystone species") but rather the
mass-genetic-vaccination of mosquitos.

The example I always return to is fruit flies! These days, the term for
this is a "gene drive":

Back when fruit fly research began, researchers captured some wild flies
and started breeding them. Only 20 years later, someone discovered that
*all wild fruit flies* had a particular transposon not found in *any*
captive populations from the 20-year-old captures. They discovered, or
realised rather, that transposons can jump across chromosomes to create
individuals who are homozygous for the transposon whereas they only
inherited a copy from one parent. In other words, genes that *make their
host homozygous*. The spread of these genes through populations is
phenomenal, because they don't follow patters of eqiulibria.

The rub is, they're usually just parasitic or neutral things, like
transposons or inteins (inteins are so weird!), which may have mutagenic
effects and therefore contribute to mutation/evolution rate but don't
intrinsically carry any huge benefit.

Now, back to the modern buzzword "Gene Drives", where we design genes
that actually *do* something, and these genes can copy themselves across
the chromosome divide to likewise create homozygotes.

Malaria is not beneficial to mosquitos. It reduces their lifespan and
nutrient intake. There is almost certainly a clear benefit to making
mosquitos immune to malaria, and the addition of a gene drive to push
that immunity trait could, if we believe the fruit fly example,
eliminate the carrier of malaria within a few decades with the drop-off
becoming drastic and precipitous within probably the first decade.

Then you do the same for water snails to destroy another potential
carrier of a deadly human disease. And to kissing bugs. And so on, until
the intermediate hosts of all human diseases are immune to the diseases
themselves, and can't inflict suffering, poverty, and premature death
any longer.

So, who wants to apply to IndieBio Ireland with this idea? :)

> /cry/ genes from /Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. This would

> allow to produce locally a dirt cheap and therefor sustainable
> biological larvicide which is safe, easy to handle and to store
> under tropical conditions. Local communities can then take for
> the first time ownership of fight against Malaria. This by
> applying simple agro technologies like drying plants and

> grinding them down to a powder of the mesh size of the larvae yaws…/
>
> /There are certain more beneficial aspects to consider:/
>
> /The protein will be capsulated inside lignin and therefor float

> for a long time in the feeding zone instead of sinking quickly

> to the bottom, as current formulations do./
>
> /For the same reason the protein will be protected from

> degrading UV radiation as opposed to current formulations which
> break down under UV making the protein useless. Preferred
> breeding ground for the most dangerous Malaria Mosquitoe
> Anopheles gambiae is clear sunlit still water which means a lot

> of sunshine. /
>
> /As the plant derived protein will float, it could be coated

> (Glycerin) to make it “self-spreading” on the water reaching,
> otherwise inaccessible spots in breeding grounds. Of course

> helped by the occasional wind and current./
>
> /Of course one also needs a technology to map even the smallest

> breeding grounds in the jungle within a sanitation corridor
> around a village. That being worked on using small model planes
> and modified point and shoot cameras taking pics in the near

> infrared./
>
> /Does the above make any sense? And if yes could it be

> conceivable that DIY biologists take a part in it as an open

> science project?/
>
> /Thank you very much for your time and patience. Please remember
> – I am a geologist and generally chip away on rocks!/
>
> /Heinrich/
>
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--
Scientific Director, IndieBio Irish Programme
Got a biology-inspired business idea that $50,000 -
& 3 months in a well equipped lab could accelerate?
Apply for the Summer programme in Ireland:
http://indie.bio/apply-to-ireland
Twitter: @onetruecathal
Phone: +353876363185
miniLock: JjmYYngs7akLZUjkvFkuYdsZ3PyPHSZRBKNm6qTYKZfAM
peerio.com: cathalgarvey

[Cathal Garvey]

PS, can we think up a fun buzzword for vaccination-by-genetics? What do
you call it when a species is rendered artificially immune to something
by genetic intervention?

Haxxination?
Gene Patching?

[Mega [Andreas Stuermer]]

A plug-in for innate immunity?

[Otto Heringer]

FIY: http://www.oxitec.com/

They are already releasing those mosquitoes here in Brazil, and without serious ecological issues since Aedes aegypti (it is a vector for dengue) is originally from Africa.

It have reduced the Aedes population by 80% in all tests in different environments. It seems very nice.

Changing the subject a little, there is also some people here testing Photogem as a "medicine" for killing the mosquitoes in the egg and larvae stage. It somehow "fotosensibilize" the mosquitoes and they got killed by sunlight or something.

2015-02-26 9:32 GMT-03:00 Mega [Andreas Stuermer] <masters...@gmail.com>:

A plug-in for innate immunity?

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