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GMO mosquitoes will be released in Florida

Biotech company Oxitec will release millions of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Florida. The goal? Reduce the population of female blood-suckers and disease vectors.

Crédits: ekamelev / Pixabay.

Soon the population of mosquitoes in the United States will increase drastically… for public health reasons. This year, several cases of dengue were identified in the archipelago of the Keys in Florida. This disease is carried by Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito known to also be a vector of yellow fever and Zika virus. To combat this local epidemic, the Keys Islands Mosquito Population Control Association called on a British biotechnology company, Oxitec. His solution to reduce mosquito populations in Florida without using insecticides (to which some mosquitoes are now resistant) has just been approved: release several hundred million genetically modified male mosquitoes in the archipelago.

GMO mosquitoes, mosquito killers?

If, on paper, the idea is scary, its purpose is laudable. Male GM mosquitoes are endowed with a gene that produces tetracyline (a protein generally used as an antibiotic), which monopolizes the mechanisms of genetic transcription that an organism needs to develop. “By over-producing the protein in question, the insect’s cells no longer have the capacity to produce other proteins, essential for its development”, underlines Oxitec in a press release. This “self-limiting” gene is only expressed in female mosquitoes., which are the only ones to suck the blood necessary for the laying of eggs. Male mosquitoes, which feed on nectar, are used only for reproduction. Once the wild females and the GM males have mated, “The female offspring die and the male offspring survives, retains a copy of the ‘self-limiting’ gene and transmits it to future females who will then not be able to develop into adulthood”. According to Oxitec, a first conclusive test was carried out in the city of Indaiatuba in Brazil. A 95% reduction in the population ofAedes aegypti had been obtained locally in just 13 weeks of constant release from GMO male mosquitoes.

The fear of GMOs

Despite everything, Floridians say they are worried about this release of 50 million GMO mosquitoes per week, during the year, in 2021 and in 2022. A petition (relayed by CNEWS), calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency to thwart the project, approaching 235,000 signatures. According to her, Oxitec’s GMO mosquitoes pose a danger to wildlife and local populations as they would be “Created from E. coli bacteria, herpes virus and other ingredients” – despite the absence of these elements in the technology presented by Oxitec. The British company assures, moreover, that “The proteins of the genes introduced into the modified insects do not produce any toxins or allergens and therefore pose no environmental problems. ”

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