CSIRO
| Motto | We deliver the science Australians need for the nation they want – productive, sustainable, healthy and secure. |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | • Advisory Council of Science and Industry (1916–1920) • Institute of Science and Industry (1920–1926) • Commonwealth Institute of Science and Industry (1926–1949) |
| Formation | 1916 |
| Headquarters | |
| Staff | 6,618 |
| Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. | |
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications.
Gene-edited mosquitoes
Oxitec Australia, a collaboration between CSIRO and the (US-owned) UK company Oxitec Ltd, which has received backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a scheme to release genetically modified mosquitoes in parts of Queensland[1], with the stated goal of reduce the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever (where 2 people are stated to have have died from it in the area from 2000 until 2008).[2] The Oxtiec mosquitoes are said to carry a self-limiting gene that ensures only non-biting male offspring survive. They also have a fluroescent gene which makes them easily identifiable.[3]
In Brazil, where Oxitec conducted a similar mosquito experiment, the results were a catastrophe. Instead of reducing mosquito populations as advertised, genes from their GM mosquitoes infiltrated wild populations, creating a hybrid species with unknown and potentially dangerous consequences.[4]
In 2021, CSIRO announced a five-year multi-million partnership on develoing AI.[5]
In October 2026, the federal government established a five-year partnership linking CSIRO and jab producer Moderna. Moderna set up an "mRNA vaccine" factory in Melbourne in 2021, capable of producing billions of doses on short notice. Industry minister Tim Ayres said developing jabs against "bacterial threats" would be among the types of tasks assigned to the new partnership, the CSIRO-Moderna Biosecurity Accelerator.[6]
References
- ↑ https://www.9news.com.au/national/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-australia-what-are-they-explainer/96b6aba8-6286-4256-b0af-08578b8d0d14
- ↑ https://www.publish.csiro.au/MA/pdf/MA09114
- ↑ https://www.9news.com.au/national/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-australia-what-are-they-explainer/96b6aba8-6286-4256-b0af-08578b8d0d14
- ↑ https://www.testbiotech.org/en/news/genetically-engineered-mosquitoes-out-of-control/
- ↑ https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2021/november/csiro-and-google-announce-five-year-partnership
- ↑ https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-boosts-pandemic-defence-as-world-seeks-answers-on-russian-plague-20261007-p613hn
