Why Millions of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Can Be Released Nationwide

The United States could soon swarm with genetically modified mosquitoes after the Environmental Protection Agency approves plans to test insects.

Newly modified mosquitoes are expected to ward off natural mosquitoes that cause disease.

Biotechnology company Oxitec has developed a genetically modified Aedes aegypti that allows non-biting males to be released into the wild and mate with biting females.

According to the company, their descendants, male or female, never survive until they mature.

Last year, millions of mosquitoes were released in the Florida Keys in last year’s pilot project, and Monday’s EPA signaled an extension of the project. Florida Not only expand to 4 counties CaliforniaWaiting for approval from state regulators.

Meredith Fensom, Global Public Relations Officer at Oxitec, said the EPA’s approval covers one county in Florida and four in California, releasing over 2 billion genetically modified male mosquitoes across the state. It’s targeted, but the launch is much more limited, he said, targeting only Florida. Expansion of Key and Turrea County, California to Visalia.

Oxitec said its purpose is to reduce the transmission of harmful illnesses such as dengue fever, Zika fever, yellow fever and chikungunya fever.

The invasive species, Aedes aegypti, accounts for a small proportion of the total population of mosquitoes in Florida, but accounts for the majority of cases of human disease, Fensom said.

In Florida, dengue fever will occur in 2020.

The species grows in California, but state health officials have so far not confirmed that dengue, chikungunya, Zika, or yellow fever spreads throughout the insect.

The goal of the new trial is to study genetically modified mosquitoes in two different environments, Fensom said.

She said the genetically modified mosquitoes produced by the company are men with “self-limiting genes.”

Although the difference cannot be detected with the naked eye, the modified insects produce male and female offspring that cannot survive, Fensom said.

Over time, as the female population declines, so does the overall population.

However, this move was met by opposition from environmental groups concerned about the potential effects of genetically modified insects. USA Today Report.

“This is a dangerous and destructive move for public health,” said Dana Perls, Food and Technology Program Manager at Friends of the Earth.

According to Perls, the main concern with the expansion of the Florida project is the lack of extensively peer-reviewed scientific dates since last year.

According to Fensom, peer-reviewed data will be published, but Perls said he was concerned about potential risks without a more rigorous and published review.

It was also a concern for Perl that no confirmed infections such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever from Aedes aegypti in California. “There are no immediate problems and there are many unclear points,” she said.

Perl added that without the data, it is unclear whether mosquitoes and their offspring behave as predicted by Oxitec.

There was concern that hybrids that might be difficult to eradicate might be produced, Perls said.

According to Fensom, insects are designed to disappear over time.

“When we release these mosquitoes into the environment, we can’t remember them,” Perls said. “In fact, this can cause problems we don’t have yet.”

This story originally appeared Sun Reproduced here with permission.

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