Genetically Modified Mosquitoes May Be Released in Fla and Calif

March 9, 2022

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has authorised the discharge of two billion genetically altered mosquitoes in Florida and California, the corporate that created the genetically modified mosquitoes stated.

The experimental program created by Oxitec is designed to cut back the transmission of dangerous ailments comparable to dengue, Zika, and yellow fever.

The program is an extension of 1 wherein thousands and thousands of mosquitoes have been launched final 12 months within the Florida Keys, USA Today reported. State companies in Florida and California must approve the packages earlier than the releases happen.

The intention of this system is to cut back instances of ailments like yellow fever by killing off the offspring of a standard form of mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which spreads ailments by means of its chunk.

Scientists at Oxitec, which is predicated within the United Kingdom, mass produce and genetically modify male Aedes aegypti eggs in a lab. These male mosquitoes will probably be launched into the wild to mate with females and cross alongside a gene that may kill the feminine offspring, that are the one ones that chunk and unfold illness. The male offspring dwell on.

“Given the growing health threat this mosquito poses across the U.S., we’re working to make this technology available and accessible,” Grey Frandsen, CEO of Oxitec, stated in a information launch. “These pilot programs, wherein we can demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness in different climate settings, will play an important role in doing so.”

However, environmental teams have criticized this system, saying there’s an absence of peer-reviewed scientific information from the Florida Keys experiment. The Friends of the Earth say there have been no regionally acquired instances of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, or Zika in California.

“EPA needs to do a real review of potential risks and stop ignoring widespread opposition in the communities where releases will happen,” Dana Perls, meals and expertise program supervisor at Friends of the Earth, stated in a information launch.

“Once released into the environment, genetically engineered mosquitoes cannot be recalled,” stated Robert Gould, president of San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, stated within the information launch. “Rather than forge ahead with an unregulated open-air genetic experiment, we need precautionary action, transparent data and appropriate risk assessments.”

Meredith Fensom, head of world public affairs at Oxitec, informed USA Today that the EPA authorised this system for one Florida and 4 California counties. However, the launch will probably be restricted at first to the Florida Keys and increasing to Visalia in Tulare County, Calif.