Posted on 12/06/2012 6:52:36 PM PST by null and void
Hundreds of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes are awaiting federal approval for release into the Florida Keys as part of an experiment aimed at reducing the risk of dengue fever.
Officials are targeting the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes because they can spread dengue fever, a disease health officials thought had been eradicated in the U.S. until 93 cases originated in the Keys in 2009 and 2010.
The trial planned by mosquito control officials and the British company Oxitec would release non-biting male mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to pass along a birth defect that kill their progeny before reaching maturity.
The district's website says the modified genes will disappear from the environment after the mosquitoes carrying it die, resulting in no permanent change to the wild mosquito population. The district also says that the mosquito species isn't native to the Keys, nor is it an integral food source for other animals.
A University of Florida professor who studies mosquito control said Oxitec's technology works and evidence from the company's experiments elsewhere show it can control mosquito populations, but it's not clear whether its methods are as effective at controlling the risk of disease transmission.
The mosquito control district wouldn't need any local permit for the trial, either, but officials held a public meeting earlier this year and have posted information on the agency's website.
Still, it could take years for the FDA to approve the trial.
Oxitec said the USDA's environmental assessment is one of several examples of proof that the trial's risks and methods are being independently evaluated. The company has trials in Brazil, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia, and it says it's gotten positive reviews from the latter two governments. It also cites its published research in peer-reviewed journals.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
mosquito’s and ticks are mating!!
The Lime Mosticko is born!!
Cross breading
Don’t forget Nutrias. Didn’t the Government bring them in for fur farms?
Nothing could go wrong with this. Just google melaleuca plant, pythons,the River of Grass restoration, etc.
Check out Plum Island just across from Lyme Ct.
Rumers say thats where the disease originated and got “out”
I figured that someone ate mosquitoes. Well we can’t starve those bats can we?
Rachel Carson
melaleucas have a seed pod that pops like pop corn and when the glades burn these things cause the tree to go nuts and sped like crazy..
No “E” I dont make this stuff up!
sped = spread
Just wondering......... aren’t mosquito larvae a major food source for the baby fish in the everglades?
new Union members in the making
MOSTICKO: New SyFy Channel Horror Movie of the Week
I'm pretty sure Bats would
I’ve never heard a grown bat cry.
Another real successful one was Kudzu.
LOL.
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