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Billion GMO Mosquitoes Unleashed in Florida to Curb Diseases

by Maureen Blas / May 03, 2021 05:13 AM EDT
Billion GMO Mosquitoes Unleashed in Florida to Curb Diseases

A billion GMO mosquitoes have been released in the Florida Keys in the United States to control diseases.

The British biotech firm, Oxitec collaborated with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with plans on unleashing hundreds of millions of GMO mosquitoes in Florida. It aims to test a prototype of population control. The first batch of these mosquitoes were released last week. 

The arguable project will spot six locations in the region to host GMO mosquitoes in the succeeding months. This program is a partnership between the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec altering the genes of male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. It aims to decrease  populations of the mosquito breed that spread diseases such as dengue, malaria, yellow fever, and Zika

Oxitec says that eventhough Aedes aegypti is responsible for only 4% of Florida Keys' mosquito population, it is accountable for relatively all disease transmission.

Florida Keys Mosquito District Executive Director, Andrea Leal said, "As we are seeing development of resistance to some of our current control methods, we are in need of new tools to combat this mosquito."  

Workers put boxes of GMO mosquitoes' eggs across Florida Keys and are anticipated to hatch within a week. . One on Ramrod Key,wwo on Cudjoe Key, and three on Vaca Key. Th eprocedure will be repeated in the coming months. A total of 12,000  mosquitoes will be unleashed each week for 12 weeks. 

Oxitec, however, received adverse response in August 2020, when it announced its Florida Keys plans regarding the release of GMO mosquitoes. The technology has been tested in São Paulo, Brazil. After 13 weeks, 95% of the mosquitoes that spread diseases have been curbed.

Using GMO mosquitoes is not the only method to restrain the population of disease-causing mosquitoes. In fact, Imperial College London researchers have successfully modified the gut genes of mosquitoes to pass anti-malarial genes to their offsprings. They also utilized the gene-editing tool, CRISPR to eliminate a population of Anopheles gambiae in a laboratory.

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