750 Million Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Will Be Released To Save Humans

A plan to release 750 million mosquitoes has obtained approval from regulators though stumbling the objections of environmentalists. The special thing about this plan is that the mosquitoes are genetically modified.

British biotechnology company Oxitec has chosen the US to test a special version of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.  These genetically modified mosquitoes contain a protein that will kill female offspring when passed down to them. The company hopes that this will prevent the mosquitoes from biting and spreading diseases like Zika and dengue fever.

Earlier this week, the department of agriculture and consumer services of Florida, US, has approved of the plan to release 750 million mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, a series of picturesque islands extending from the southern tip of Florida, starting this summer.

In May, the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) approved of this plan and a further trial scheduled for next year in Texas.

According to proponents of this trial, the modified mosquitoes are male, which will not bite people, and won’t cause any danger to the public.

However, the plan has stumbled the strong objection from conservation groups who think it will have an impact on the environment. Meanwhile, scientists have expressed their concerns about the trial’s oversight.

On Tuesday, the same day of the announcement about the scheme, opponents gathered outside the Florida Keys Mosquito Control district office to demand the board to oppose executing the trial.

Policy director Jaydee Hanson, the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety, said that this trial is like a Jurassic Park, in which no one knows what could go wrong because they refused to have a serious analysis of environmental risks. Furthermore, they didn’t get consent from residents in Florida to launch the scheme.

In the past, people used smoke to ward mosquitoes off or bury themselves in the sand to avoid being bitten. Over the years, people have come up with more ways and appliances to avoid or kill mosquitoes, but these insects still exist and transmit diseases every year, killing a lot of people.

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