Zika Virus

Lord Gardiner of Kimble Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taverne (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)]

My Lords, we have not heard from the Conservative Benches yet.

[Viscount Ridley]

My Lords, I have a feeling that the noble Lord, Lord Taverne, and I were going to say much the same thing, so I will have a go at it. Will the Minister undertake to look at the report on genetically modified insects by the Science and Technology Committee, under the chairmanship of my noble friend Lord Selborne? This came out in December, which was extremely timely, and examined the fact that a British company, Oxitec, has managed to suppress mosquito populations in Brazil by 90% in some areas. This is a fantastic new technology which could be much more helpful than other approaches in this case.