By Brown Chimezie
Journalists in Nigeria have been encouraged to equip themselves intellectually to report the gene drives push of research organisations that target Africa and its people as guinea pigs.
This charge was the main thrust of the journalism training on reporting gene drives, which was organized by Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) on March 22, 2024, with journalists from major news outlets in the country in attendance.
Executive director of RDI, Philip Jakpor, who threw the event open, said, in conceiving the training, the organization realised that the media was important not only in keeping the public informed but also in exposing and interrogating initiatives and innovations that are extraneous to Africans and African culture as part of its watchdog role.
Jakpor noted that RDI was not averse to technology or innovation, as long as they are rooted in facts, the promotion of African culture, are indigenous and protect the people from manipulation in all forms. He went on to say that there was a new form of colonialism that targeted altering food, food systems and nature as a whole.
He revealed that gene drives were being experimented already in Uganda, Ghana and Burkina Faso, where, in 2019, sterilized mosquitoes were released. He alerted that Nigeria, with its huge population of more than 230 million people, was a potential testing ground for gene drives.
In his presentation on communicating the jargon of science, managing director of EnviroNews, Michael Simire, explained that science journalism covers subjects such as biotechnology, climatology, meteorology, global warming and the environment. It also extends to health, drugs, chemicals, agriculture, space exploration, as well as oil and gas exploration and oceans, rivers and marine ecosystems, among others.
He explained that, in the identified areas, there are jargons such as DNA, the acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid or PCR which is polymerase chain reaction and streptococcus, which is essentially a bacteria and apoptosis, the jargon for cell death, among others.
He went on to advise that, to write good science news, the journalist must use simple language and avoid the jargon and technical terms to a large extent so as not to turn the readers off. He stressed that jargon makes information difficult to understand and prone to misinterpretation.
Giving an example, he said that rather than use ‘carcinogenic’, the journalist should use ‘cancer-causing’. He urged journalists to make use of real-life examples to write science news to help the audience understand what is being explained and make it relatable.
In his presentation on “Gene Drives: What is it all about?” Diego Barcena Menendez, an ecological farmer and former molecular scientist, introduced the participants to the world of CRISPR, a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes that are used to detect and destroy DNA from similar bacteriophages during subsequent infections.
Menendez explained that DNA is a set of instructions for all living organisms that are not linearly arranged but packed into chromosomes.
There are 23 in humans and six in mosquitoes. He revealed, however, that the process may lead to unintended consequences and this possibility has continued to dog experiments on sterilizing mosquitoes or inserting genes that can make them susceptible to insecticides, which are being carried out in Africa.
Taking the discussion from there in her presentation, “Behind the scenes of gene drives”, Barbara Pilz, campaigner with Save Our Seeds, said the political issues around gene drives are discussed mainly at the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and International Union for Conservation of Nature in addition to some national governments.
Barbara pointed out that signatories to the UN CBD meet every two years at the Conference of Parties (COPs) meeting to discuss latest developments. In between the COPs, there are intersessional meetings to discuss specific topics and work on text. In some cases, an ad hoc technical expert group might be put in place to support the process in certain subjects.
She related that text and recommendations are discussed, modified and approved during COPs, and what is agreed becomes a new guideline or duty for the countries.
Barbara Ntambirweki of the AfriTAP/ETC Group, in her presentation on “Africa’s concerns about gene drives”, argued that although regulations are yet to be put in place globally, the most advanced projects are aimed at malaria intervention, in some African countries such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Uganda.
Ntambirweki, who is also civil society digital practitioner, Stanford University, said Uganda has one of the highest global burdens of malaria, with over 90% of the population at risk. In that country, malaria remains the leading cause of death, especially in children.
She revealed that the Target Malaria Research consortium intends to undertake open releases of gene drive mosquitoes that will, apparently, reduce the population of the female anopheles mosquito and the mosquito population and reduce malaria transmission and disease. She, however, argued that there is a lack of transparency about ongoing trials. Her findings also show unethical experiments going on where communities are paid to expose their legs to biting mosquitoes could be captured.
According to her, Nigeria, with the highest malaria rate globally, may be a potential target for the experiments on the continent hence the media has to spotlight ethical questions that research organizations prefer to hide.