In 2012, a British biotech company called Oxitec had genetically modified 3.3 million mosquitoes and released them in the Cayman Islands to fight diseases. These mosquitoes had been bred with parts of the herpes virus and E. coli bacteria along with coral and cabbage genes. This modification would, in essence, prevent future generations of mosquitoes and keep the diseases they carry from spreading to their offspring and eventually to the people they bite. Genetically altered males would mate with wild females and their larvae would die thus lowering the mosquito population. From their 2012 test, 96% of the targeted population of mosquitoes were suppressed. This year, Oxitec has announced that they are looking to perform a test like this in Florida.
Insecticides are used in the Florida Keys because mosquitoes have always been a nuisance. The species of mosquitoes that carry the diseases have adapted and become immune to four of the six insecticides. The two diseases the company wants to target are dengue and chikungunya, both of which are very painful and are carried by mosquitoes. There are no vaccines for either illness. If Oxitec gets the OK to release a portion of their mosquitoes, they would mate with potentially infected females and significantly lower the mosquito population in the Florida Keys. The company will make sure to separate the genetically altered males from the altered females and only release the non-biting males as to not pose a threat to the human population in the Keys.
However, there are many people who don't want Oxitec to go through with this experiment. Many of the questions and concerns include "what if there are females released and they bite people?", "those diseases haven't affected Florida yet, why are you using them as guinea pigs?", and "if a mosquito does bite someone, will their altered DNA hurt me?". Oxitec has released about 70 million of their genetically modified mosquitoes into several countries and they haven't heard any complaints about the mosquitoes being harmful to the population. The company has designed the mosquitoes with non-toxic, non-allergenic proteins that are not harmful to humans. Despite Oxitec's efforts to assure people that the mosquitoes will help them more than hurt them, a Change.org petition has reached over 130,000 signatures against the experiment.
I thought this was a really cool article because of the way they're handling the disease. It would be too easy to make a new insecticide to get rid of the infected mosquitoes. Oxitec is using mosquitoes to kill mosquitoes and, to me, it's fool proof and there's no doubt that it'll be effective. I think this is a great idea especially if it's virtually harmless to the ecosystem that's already there.
The article has made some valuable points about reducing diseases spread through mosquitos. It seems as though this, along with the nuisance issue, are the only reasons the company is willing to release the genetically modified mosquitoes. However, I feel like there is a huge risk when it comes to reducing mosquito populations by so much. Doesn't it make sense that eliminating a species from the planet (especially one with millions of individuals) can negatively effect the globe? All of the ecosystems and organisms are interconnected and I feel like further research into the effects of this proposed idea are needed before going through with the plans. Just some food for thought...
ReplyDeleteI thought of that as well. There are many animals that eat mosquitoes and mosquitoes regulate the population of various other animals as well. I read through the frequently asked questions section on Oxitec's website and it seems as though their mosquitoes will not negatively impact the environment. The species of mosquito that carries the disease they're trying to control is not native to Florida (they were introduced accidently from African trade over the last few hundred years) so chances are the native species are not dependent on them. Also, insecticides that they currently use in Florida are targetted at mosquitoes, but they kill other insects as well. Oxitec putting their mosquitoes into the population will only affect other mosquitoes, so that's another plus.
ReplyDelete( http://www.oxitec.com/faqs/ )