Florida Residents Furious over ‘Live Experiment’ to Release a Billion Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes

Florida Keys, Pixabay

The Florida Keys will have a billion genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes released over the next two years, beginning this week, in order to reduce the numbers of Aedes aegypti that is reported to carry diseases including dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. Floridians, however, are calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to end ‘this live experiment’ saying they are being subjected to terrorism. The insects have been modified to pass on a particular protein when they mate, which ensures female offspring do not survive the next generation. The modified mosquitoes are all male and Oxitec, the producer of the GE mosquitoes, contends that because only female mosquitoes can bite, there is no risk to humans in releasing them.
  • Trials of the first-ever US release of genetically engineered being this week
  • Florida has been chosen due to its influx of  Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
  • This species, which comes from Brazil, carries Zika and other diseases
  • The modified mosquitoes pass a specific protein to females during mating
  •  This ensures female offspring do not survive the next generation
  • However, residents are furious about the ‘live experiment’
  • Some are saying the release of up to a billion is an act of terrorism  

The Florida Keys will soon be buzzing with close to a billion ‘fraken-squitoes’ – gene-hacked mosquitoes aimed at eradicating a disease carrying mosquito.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec, a British biotech company, are starting the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered (GE) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes this week, which will see up to a billion over a two-year period.

The project aims to reduce the numbers of Aedes aegypti, one of several mosquito species that can carry diseases including dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever.

Floridians, however, are calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to end ‘this live experiment’ saying they are being subjected to terrorism by the FKMCD.

The trial is set to begin this week, with the first phase releasing up to 144,000 GE mosquitoes over the next 12 weeks. Ultimately, up to a billion will be released in Monroe County.

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Ed
Ed
2 years ago

Sorry, but, I have a real problem believing this one.

Phyllis
Phyllis
2 years ago

Insanity of the cult of mad scientists bent on destruction of the earth and everything in it. The beginning of the destruction of the ecosystem!

Raymond Eaton
Raymond Eaton
2 years ago

The EPA? What could go wrong, right? I wouldn’t trust ANY US government agency to release anything period, never mind genetically engineered organisms. How about we lock the know it all’s behind this in a room with a few thousand of these mosquitoes for a couple of weeks first to see what happens.