We (Ministry Of Natural Resources & Environment Malaysia) refer to the article ‘Too many questions and no answers' ( Malaysiakini , Nov 18, 2010).

We appreciate the concerns raised by ‘Ex Vector Control Staff' with regards to this issue.

We wish to inform that we have forwarded the concerns to the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) for their considerations before any actual trials to be conducted.

On our part, we will closely monitor the implementation of the field trial to ensure compliance at every stage of the release.

The proposed trials are only Marked-Release-Recapture (MRR) trials to find out how far the GM mosquitoes can fly and how long they can survive compared to the wild mosquitoes.

They are not suppression releases which have been conducted in Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean. Only 4,000 to 6,000 male mosquitoes will be released compared to more than three million mosquitoes in Grand Cayman Island.

Before the National Biosafety Board (NBB) granted the approval for IMR to conduct the trials, NBB have been advised by the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC) which has gone through the biosafety aspects of the trials.

GMAC members are scientists from agencies under various ministries, Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation, Academy of Sciences and University Putra Malaysia.

In view of the safety of the people and the environment, the NBB has listed several terms and conditions which IMR must comply before, during and after the MRR trials.

We also would like to reiterate that the Ministry and the Department of Biosafety are very concerned in protecting human health, the environment and biological diversity in this country.

For more details, please visit our website www.biosafety.nre.gov.my or contact the Department of Biosafety at [email protected].

Yamuna Perimalu is with the Corporate Communications Unit of Ministry Of Natural Resources & Environment Malaysia.